THE WORKS
ARCHBISHOP BRAMHALL.
THE
WORKS
OF THE
MOST REVEREND FATHER IN GOD,
JOHN BRAMHALL, D.D,
SOMETIME LORD ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH,
PRIMATE AND METROPOLITAN OF ALL IRELAND.
WITH
A LIFE OF THE AUTHOR,
AND A COLLECTION OF HIS LETTERS.
VOL. I.
OXFORD :
JOHN HENRY PARKER.
MDCCCXLII.
OXFORD :
PRINTED BY I. SHRIMPTON.
PREFACE.
THE Works of Archbishop Bramhall were collected, and
published at Dublin in a large folio volume, in 1674-7, a few
years after the author's death. In republishing them, the
order, in which they were then arranged, will be strictly
followed. They were divided in that arrangement, principally
according to the subjects treated, into four Parts. Of the
first of these, containing the Discourses against the Roman
ists, the present volume comprises the first two Discourses,
viz., the " Answer to La Milletiere," and the " Just Vin
dication of the Church of England from the Unjust Asper
sion of Criminal Schism." The paging of the same edition
is retained in the present upon the inner margin of the page.
Of the two Discourses now published, the text of the first
has been corrected by that of the earlier editions of the work
in 1653 and 1654. Neither of these, unfortunately, was
printed under the author's own superintendence ; the former
having been taken from a copy of his MS. procured surrepti
tiously, and the latter being merely a reprint by the same
parties, with one and one only correction by the author
himself a. They are, however, the only editions, to which any
weight can be attached ; since no steps were taken by Bram
hall himself, beyond a general acknowledgment and this one
correction, towards publishing an accurate copy of his tract ;
nor did the Dublin editor make use of any new materials
(if any were within his reach), but contented himself with
reprinting the former of the early editions, uncorrected.
A similar course has been followed with the second treatise
a See pp. xxvi., 45. 1. 32, 276. note u.
PREFACE.
in the volume. Of this, as of the Answer, there are two
separate editions, the original one of 1654 and another pub
lished in 1661 ; the former printed in London while the
author was in Holland, and confessedly full of errors ; the
latter, a mere reprint of this, corrected according to its
table of errata, by the same publisher. The two however
(so far as the Editor is aware) are the only separate editions
of the work, certainly the only editions to which any authority
belongs; the folio text being merely a (very careless) reprint
of the first of them, uncorrected, unless in obvious typogra
phical mistakes. In the present volume, the edition of 1654
has been followed, with the correction of course of its ac
knowledged errors.
The references5, in both treatises, have been verified and
corrected to the extent of the Editor's ability; and additional
references given wherever they seemed to be required. In a
few cases unfortunately, but those it is hoped of no material
consequence, he has failed in his search, either for the book
quoted, or for the quotation itself. Such failure is specified in
each casec; and in the notes, and throughout, whatever has
been added is marked by brackets, unless in a few trifling
and obvious instances (e. g. the fuller writing of an abbre-
ed. Bened.
b Of the books, which are frequently
quoted, and of which there are various
editions, the following have been used,
unless it is in any case otherwise
specified.
S. Augustin.^
S. Ambrose
S. Hieron.
Gregor. M. )
S. Chrys., ed. Savil.
S. Cyprian, ed. Fell.
Tertullian, Paris. 1634.
Beda, Op., Colon. 1612.
Biblioth. Patrum, Colon. 1618.
Concil., ed. Labb. et Cossart, Paris.
1671.
Matth. Paris., ed. Wats., Lond. 1640.
Gul. Malmesb.
Rog. Hoveden.
Gerson., Op., Paris. 1521.
Antiq. Brit. Eccles., Hanov. 1650.
Foxe, Acts and Monum., Lond. 1684.
fap. Savil., Rer.
' •< Anglic. Script,,
*' (Franc. 1601.
Clarendon, 4to. Oxf. 1 8 16.
Jer. Taylor, ed. Heber.
Field, Of the Church, Lond. 1628.
Collier, Ch. Hist, fol. Lond. 1708,
1714.
Platina, Colon. Agripp. 1626.
S. Clara, Lugdun. 1635.
Bellarm., Controv., Ingoldst. 1571.
c This has been overlooked in one
case, p. 142, note a. And a more serious
error has inadvertently been committed
in another note (p. 180, note b), in the
explanation given of the term " devo
lution." The word really means the
' lapse of a right of patronage to a supe
rior, through neglect to present on the
part of an inferior, patron' (DuMaillane,
Dictionn. du Droit Canonique) ; and
is distinguished in French law-lan
guage from the term ' devolut,' which
signifies a similar lapse through inca
pacity in the presentee of an inferior
patron.
PREFACE.
viated name), where it appeared useless to disfigure the page
in order to point them out.
The quotations in the text of the treatises themselves,
where they are verbally exact or nearly so, are marked with
double commas ; where such exactness does not exist, with
single commas.
The orthography (with the exception of a few words d, where
it seemed worth while to preserve a peculiar or characteristic
mode of spelling) has been throughout modernised (excepting
of course in the Letters, mentioned below); as there appeared
to be little in it in general either to mark the style of the
author or to illustrate the history of the language.
The running titles, placed in the outer margin of the page,
have been filled up where they appeared deficient (the
additions being of course marked as such) ; so as to make
them, as far as possible, a complete abstract of the text. It
has seemed worth while, also, to follow the example of a late
editor of the Answer to La Milletiere in placing the titles in
question, with such additions from the text as were needful
to adapt them for the purpose, at the head of each treatise,
as a table of contents.
Prefixed to the treatises themselves will be found, 1, a Life
of the Author; 2, a Sermon preached at his funeral by
Jeremy Taylor ; 3, a Collection of his Letters, with a few
other original documents relating to him; and 4, a transla
tion of that part of La Milletiere's work (viz., the Dedicatory
Epistle at the commencement of it), to which the Answer
is a reply.
1. Of the Lives of Bramhall already existing, two only are
sufficiently short, to render them admissible into a volume
like the present; viz. those of Mr. Harris in his edition of
Sir James Ware, and of Mr. Morant in the Biographia
Britannica. The latter has been preferred, as being, on
a Viz. The words extrinsecal, intrinse- applmble, substract. In two other cases
cal, accessary, loth, stedfast, which are of a similar kind his mode of spelling
almost invariably spelt by Bramhall has not been retained, viz., connivence
as here marked. He uses also the words for connivance, and mesnage, mesna-
interessed, enoil, apostate (as a verb), gery, &c., for manage, managery, &c.
PREFACE.
the one hand, a more concise abstract of the verbose
and tedious Life prefixed by Dr. Vesey to the folio edition,
from which both are derived, and, on the other, as com
prising a larger range of information drawn from other
sources. It has been taken from the second edition of the
work, with only so much however of the additional notes
of that edition as seemed to be worth reprinting*. It is
necessary to add, — since the contrary is the case in one in
stance £, — that it is upon the whole a very fair and adequate
representation of the original, from which it is abridged.
In republishing it, several errors have been corrected, and
considerable additions made; especially in the long foot
notes (which, for the sake of convenience, have been "here
thrown into an appendix11), and most especially in the ac
count of BramhalPs Works. For some further and valuable
information (which will be found in note n. p. cxiii.) the
Editor begs to express his thanks to Dr. Todd, of Dublin,
who also, with very great kindness, revised the greater part
of the Life itself.
2. It has been thought worth while to reprint likewise the
Sermon preached at BramhalFs funeral by Jeremy Taylor,
as (besides its own merits) containing a sketch of the Primate's
life and character, entirely independent of that drawn by
Dr. Vesey. The Oration, pronounced upon the same occasion
by Dr. Loftus, would probably have been preferred, had the
Editor come into earlier possession of it, as being a tract of
great rarity, and more exclusively employed upon its subject,
whilst its information and line of thought are, equally with
Bishop Taylor's, independent of Dr. Vesey. The Sermon
however was in type before the Oration was procured. It is
exactly reprinted from the text of Bishop Heber, with the
addition of several, although far from all, of the references
that are wanting in his edition.
3. The Letters of Dr. Bramhall here collected are sixteen
in number, two of which are now for the first time printed.
J See p. iii. s See p. xx. text to note s.
See pp. xxxvi — xxxviii. h pp. xvi — xxxv,
PREFACE.
For one of these, No. XL, the Editor is indebted to the
kindness of the Provost and Fellows of Queen's College,
Oxford, whose Library possesses the MS. of Bishop Barlow
containing it; for the other, numbered XVIIL, he returns
his thanks to Mr. Upcott, in whose extensive collection of
letters the original is preserved1. The sources whence the
remaining letters have been taken will be found stated in
the notes upon each.
Three other documents are added to the Letters : viz., the
Will of Archbishop Bramhall, already printed in the preface
to the Bawdon Papers, whence it has been copied ; the public
and solemn recognition of his services by the Irish Convoca
tion of 1661, never before published, for which the Editor
has a second time to thank Dr. Todd ; and a Latin inscription
to his memory taken from the folio edition of his works.
4. The translation of the Epistle Dedicatory of La Mille-
tiere's Victoire de la Verite originally appeared with Bram-
halFs Answer in 1653 ; it was reprinted with considerable
alterations in the new edition of the Answer in 1654, and
again from that of 1653 in the folio edition of BramhalFs
Works. That in the present volume has been corrected by
the original French; and, although still far from elegant,
will be found, it is hoped, at all events, — what it was not
before, accurate and intelligible. Marginal titles have also
been added: and the error k corrected, which has hitherto
prevailed in the spelling of the author's name. It must be
confessed, however, that the error in question appears to
have originated with Bramhall himself, and not with the
self-appointed editors of his Answer; since it occurs both in
the Just Vindication, and wherever in his other works he
has occasion to mention the name. The present Editor has
ventured to correct it in every case. For the convenience
1 There is a clause in this letter clearer." The words, between which
almost illegible. A different interpre- the question lies, are not so unlike as
tation to the one given in p. cxvii. has they may at first sight appear to be ; nor
been kindly supplied by Mr. Upcott does the context disagree with either,
as the more probable of the two, viz., k See p. cxli. note b.
"winds prove clearer," for " leases prove
PREFACE.
of the printer, the Epistle has been quoted in the margin of
the Answer by the marginal, i. e. the folio, paging.
It remains to say a few words of the works themselves
republished.
An examination of the authorities, upon which the argu
ments of the Just Vindication are founded, has proved most
satisfactorily the soundness of the author's positions. It has
at the same time brought to light the existence of a few un
important errors in minor points. In making this acknow
ledgment, let it in fairness be remembered, — first, that for
most of these errors the printer is probably responsible and
not the author1, the handwriting of the latter being far from
easily legible, whilst (as has been seen) he was unable per
sonally to superintend the printing of his work ; and secondly,
that, where the author is himself responsible, he may still
reasonably claim indulgence for what are after all but a very
few errors, in a work written under the hardships and uncer
tainties of poverty and exile m, from recollections and notes
of past reading, with but scanty present opportunities of
access to books, and in an argument based upon a very large
and minute induction. Nor is there reason to do more than
thus advert to the subject, since each error has been noticed
as it occurs, whilst all taken together do not in the slightest
degree tend to invalidate even the minor branches of the
argument of the work. One or two isolated points may,
perhaps, be too strongly put; but the masterly and com
prehensive reasoning, the terse and emphatic statement,
the well-marked and consistent system, which are the great
merits of BramhalTs writings, rest untouched upon a broad
and firm foundation.
There is another and an unpleasant subject, referring more
particularly to the first of the two treatises, which, though
it may seem invidious to notice it, yet must not be passed
over in silence. It is impossible to read a sentence of Bram-
1 e. g. "four" for "forty," in p. 181. this edition.)
1. 20, (see p. 181, note g.) ; "520" for m See the Just Vindication, c. x. p.
"500" in p. 242. 1. 25, (corrected in 276 of this volume.
PREFACE.
hall's writings without feeling that he is in earnest. He is
indeed so entirely bent upon his purpose,, as to be neglectful
of every thing subordinate and supplemental to it. His lan
guage accordingly is always nervous and intelligible, but at
the same time, is not seldom unpolished, and occasionally
even inaccurate. It is but fair to Bramhall to prepare his
reader for occasional homeliness of language : and though,
one whose thoughts are so vigorous, might well be excused,
if on ordinary topics his expressions should be sometimes
harsh; there are subjects where such an excuse is hardly
sufficient. But the fault may be truly said to be, in a
degree, non hominis sed temporum.
In conclusion, the Editor has to express his regret, that
an accumulation of unforeseen and unavoidable occupations
has so long delayed the completion of an engagement, under
taken originally upon a very hasty calculation, and with a
very insufficient conception, of the difficulties of the task.
He is sorry to be compelled to acknowledge, that the delay
is far from being compensated by any corresponding im
provement in the volume itself.
March, 1842. A. W. H.
GENERAL TABLE
ARCHBISHOP BRAMHALL'S WORKS.
PART I. — CONTAINING THE DISCOURSES AGAINST THE ROMANISTS.
Present
edition.
VOL. I,
Dis
course.
VOL. II.
VOL. III.,
111.
Ill,
1. The Answer to La Milletiere, with
La Milletiere' s Letter prefixed
2. A Just Vindication of the Church of
England from the Unjust Asper
sion of Criminal Schism
r3. A Replication to the Bishop of
Chalcedon's Survey of the Vin
dication of the Church of Eng
land from Criminous Schism
4. A Reply to S. W.'s Refutation of
the Bishop of Derry's Just Vin
dication of the Church of Eng
land
5. Schism Guarded and Beaten back
upon the Right Owners
6. The Consecration of Protestant Bi
shops Vindicated, and the Fable of
the Nag's-Head Ordination refuted
First
Printed.
Hague, 1653.
Lond. 1654.
Lond. 1656.
Hague, 1658.
Hague, 165 8.
PART II. — AGAINST THE ENGLISH SECTARIES.
A Fair Warning to take Heed of the
Scotch Discipline . . . Hague, 1649.
The Serpent-Salve, or, the Observator's "I
Grounds discussed . . . /
His Vindication of Himself and the
Episcopal Clergy from the Charge
of Popery, against Mr. Baxter . Lond. 1672,
GENERAL TABLE OF ARCHBISHOP BRAMHALL^S WORKS.
Present
edition.
Dis
course.
i.
VOL. IVX ii.
PART III. — AGAINST MR. HOBBES.
A Defence of True Liberty from ante
cedent and extrinsecal Necessity .
Castigations of Mr. Hobbes his Ani.
madversions, &c.
The Catching of the Leviathan .
First
Printed.
Lond. 1655.
Lond. 165|.
Lond. 1658.
VOL. V.
PART IV. — ON MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS.
i. A Treatise concerning the Sabbath and
the Lord's Day
ii. A Sermon on 2 Sam. x. 12, before the
Marquis of Newcastle, being ready
to meet the Scotch Army; Jan.
28, 164f .
iii. A Sermon on Ps. cxxvi. 7, April 23,
1661, being the day of his
Majesty's Coronation; with two
Speeches in the House of Peers .
iv. A Sermon on Prov. xxviii. 13, before
the Honourable House of Com
mons, at their solemn receiving the
Sacrament, in St. Patrick's, Dublin,
Jan. 16, 1661 ....
v. Of Persons dying without Baptism
vi. An Answer to two Papers, of Protest
ants' Ordination, &c. .
vii. An Answer to S. N.'s Objections against
Protestants' Ordination
In folio edit.
York, 1643.
Dubl. 1661.
Dubl. 1661.
In folio edit.
In folio edit.
In folio edit.
CONTENTS OF YOL, I.
Page
Life of Archbishop Bramhall ...... i
Sermon preached at the Funeral of Archbishop Bramhall,
by Bishop Taylor .... xxxix
Letters &c. of Archbishop Bramhall Ixxvii
Dedicatory Epistle of La Milletiere's Victory of Truth. . cxix
Answer to the Epistle of M. de La Milletiere. Part i. Dis
course i. ..... i
Just Vindication of the Church of England from the Unjust
Aspersion of Criminal Schism. Part i. Discourse ii. 83
THE LETTERS &c. OF DR. BRAMHALL, PRINTED IN THE
PRESENT VOLUME.
I. From Dr. Bramhall to Laud (then) Bishop of
London.
II. From the Bishop of Derry to Lord Deputy
Wentworth
III. From the same to Archbishop Spottiswood .
IV. From the same to Dr. Coote, Dean of Down .
V. From the same to his wife, Mrs. Bramhall
VI. From the same to the Lord Primate (Ussher)
VII. From the same to King Charles II.
VIII. From the same to his Son, under the name
of Mr. John Pierson
IX. From the same to the same
X. From the same to the Archbishop of Armagh
(Ussher)
XI. From the same to Dr. Bernard
XII. From the same to Mrs. Bramhall .
XIII. The Petition of the Clergy of Ireland to
Charles II.
XIV. From the Lord Primate to Sir Edward
Nicholas
XV. From the same to King Charles II.
XVI. The last Will and Testament of Archbishop
Bramhall
XVII. Public and Solemn Recognition of Arch
bishop Bramhall' s Services by the Irish Convo
cation of 1661
XVIII. From the Bishop of Derry to Sir Richard
Browne .
XIX. tffiroiJ.fr]tJ.6v€V{Jia, in memory of Archbishop
Bramhall.
Dubl. Castle, Aug. 10. 1633
Fawne, . . . May 30. 1635
Glasslough, . Aug. 13. 1637
(Ireland.) . . Jan. 27. 1639
(Dublin.) . March 12. 164£
(Ireland) . . April 26. 1641
Hague, . . . Jan.l
(Abroad.) . . Feb. fflfgf
Antwerpe, . . May •£§. 1654
(Abroad.) . . July 20. 1654
(The Hague, . . about 1658)
London, . . . July 7. 1660
Dublin, . . . Dec. 5. 1660
Dublin, . . . July 10. 1661
(Dublin, 1661)
Jan. 5. 166f
July 3. 1661
(Abroad.) . . June 30. 1646
THE LIFE
OF
THE MOST REVEREND FATHER IN GOD
JOHN
LORD ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH, AND PRIMATE OF ALL IRELAND.
[TAKEN FROM THE SECOND EDITION'OF THE BIOGRAPHIA BRITANNICA.]
BRAMUALL.
LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP BRAMHALL.
BRAMHALL (JOHN), Archbishop of Armagh in the seven
teenth century, was born at Pontefract in Yorkshire, about
the year 1593% being descended from " an ancient and genteel
family b [A] ." He received his first education in the place of his
birth ; and when he was qualified for the University, was sent
to Sidney College in Cambridge, where he was admitted Fe
bruary the 21st, 1608C, and put under the care of Mr. Huletd[B].
[The principal authorities for Abp. BramhalPs Life are, 1. the Life prefixed to
his works by Bp. Vesey (see note b below) ; 2. the Funeral Sermon by Jer. Taylor, re
printed in the present volume ; 3. the short article in Sir James Ware's Comment,
de Prcesul. Hiberniae ; the additions in Harris's edition of Ware being taken almost
entirely from Bp. Vesey. There is also a Funeral Oration in Latin, published at
Dublin in 1663 by Dr. Dudley Loftus, and containing a sketch of the Bishop's life,
but which the present Editor has been unable to see. Vesey and Taylor have sup
plied the materials for most of the later memoirs of Bramhall, that for instance
in the Biographie Universelle being taken entirely from the former, and those in
Barksdale's Remembrancer, Lloyd's Loyal Martyrs, &c. entirely from the latter.
The article in the Biographia Britannica, here reprinted, is for the most part an
abridgment, and in the very words of the original, of Dr. Vesey 's Life, but with
the information supplied by Sir James Ware and from other sources — Bp. Taylor
excepted, of whose sermon the writer does not seem to have been aware, — inter
woven in the proper places. Some further additions have been made in the pre
sent reprint, principally from the Rawdon Papers (Letters, &c. to and from Abp
Bramhall, preserved in the family of the Marquis of Hastings, whose ancestors
were connected with the Archbishop by marriage, and printed in 1819 by the
Rev. Edw. Berwick, his Lordship's Chaplain). For the references to Dr. Todd's
Life of Milton, to the Life of Dean Barwick, and to Grainger' s Biograph. History,
the Editor is indebted to the Life of Bramhall in Chalmers.]
a [Dr. Bramhall was 'approaching born so early as 1593, would have been
to' 70 years of age in January 166§, of course, in the last named year, not
when he made his Avill (see it among less but more than the required age.
his Letters, &c. in the present volume, See Mant as above quoted.]
No. XV.); which would agree with the b [Athanasius Hibernicus, or] The
year assigned for his birth in the text : Life of John Lord Archbishop of Ard-
yet on the other hand it would appear to magh, prefixed to his Works, edit. 1677,
follow from an expression used by Abp. fol., by John [Vesey], Bishop of Lyme-
Laud (as quoted by Mant, Ch. of Ireland, rick, p. 2. It is not paged,
eh. iv. § 4. pp. 471, 472) that the date c From Dr. Sherman's Tabula? Sid-
there given was rather too early. For a neianae.
rule had been laid down by Laud in 1633 a Sir James Ware's Works, edit,
(mentioned by him in a letter to Strafford 1739, under the Life of our Primate,
dated Oct. 14. in that year, in the Straff. [This Mr. Hulet is probably the same
Papers), that no one should thenceforth with the Mr. Hewlett mentioned by
be consecrated a Bishop, who should be Abp. Laud in a letter to Bp. Bramhall,
at the time less than forty years of age ; dated Aug. 11. 1638 (Rawd. Papers,
of which rule he apologizes for his own No. xix), as being then designed to
violation in the case of Bramhall (whom marry a kinswoman of the Archbishop,
he had recommended) May 14, 1634 Mr. Hulet " was then in Ireland, where
(Letter to Strafford of that date, in he was well provided for by his pupil,
Straff. Papers) : whereas Bramhall, if according to the account given by Dr.
b 2
IV LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP BRAMHALL.
He took the degree of Bachelor of Arts in the year 1612, and
that of Master in 1616e. After taking the latter, he quitted
the University, and entering into Holy Orders, had a living
given him in the city of Yorkf. He was, likewise, presented
to the rectory of Elvington, or Eterington, in Yorkshire, by
Mr. Wandesford, afterwards Master of the Ilolls, and some
time Lord Deputy of Ireland. About the same time he mar
ried a clergyman's widow, of the [Halleyg] family, an agreeable
woman, and of a good fortune, with whom he had a valuable
"library, left by her former husband; by which he was so
wedded to his studies, that all the temptations of a new-
married life could not divorce him from them, or give any
intermission to his duty of constant preaching." This he
performed with so much assiduity, prudence, and gravity,
that " he became as eminent in the Church, as before in the
University, and greatly beloved by all degrees of menV In
the year 1623, he had two public disputations at North-
Allerton, with a secular priest and a Jesuit [C], which gained
him great reputation, and so recommended him in particular
to the Archbishop of York's1 esteem, that he made him his
chaplain, and took him into his confidence. During the life
of the Archbishop, he was made prebendary of York [D] , and
after of Ripon ; at which last place he went and resided after
the Archbishop's death (which happened in 1628 [March,
162JJ), "and conducted most of the concernments of that
church in the quality of Sub-Dean." Here [fhe shewed his
exceeding great love to his flock, in staying among them in
the time of a most contagious and destructive pestilence;
visiting them in their houses, baptizing their children, and
doing all other offices of his ministry15.' Here too] he preached
constantly for several years, and became so eminent, not only
for his abilities in the pulpit, but also for his knowledge in
the laws, that he was frequently chosen arbitrator between
contending parties1; and by that, and his good behaviour
Lloyd in his book of Worthies" (Rawd. (Rawd. Papers, pp. 12, &c.). It is mis-
Papers, p. 51. note). See also Jer. spelt by the writer in the Biographia
Taylor's Fun. Serm.j Britannica, who misunderstood Dr. Ve-
e From the Grace-book of Sidney- sey's expression.}
College. h Life, pp. 2, 3.
f Life, &c. as above. ' Toby Matthews.
e [That this was the real name of the k [Life, &c. p. 4.]
family into which Dr. Bramhall mar- l [The talents for business, for which
ried, appears from the will of his widow Bramhall was conspicuous, seem to
LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP BRAMHALL. V
in all other respects, he obtained so much honour and in
terest, that there was scarcely any public transaction over
which he had not a considerable influence ; " even in the
elections for members of Parliament, such as he named at
Ripon, and other corporations, carrying the vote and favour
of the people." He was also appointed one of his Majesty's
High Commissioners; in which office he was "very curious
in the disquisition of all causes," and by some was accounted
severe : but, however rough his speech might sometimes be,
his dealings were generally smooth and gentle m. In the year
1623 he took the degree of Bachelor, and in 1630 that of
Doctor, in Divinity n[E.] Soon after, he was invited to Ireland
by the Lord Viscount Wentworth, Deputy of that kingdom,
and Sir Christopher Wandesford, Master of the Rolls : and
he accepted of their invitation ; though he had a prospect of
being promoted in his native country [, "being in as good
esteem with Archbishop Neil, then lately, in the beginning
of 1632, removed from Winton to York, as he had been with
all his predecessors, Matthews, Mountain, and Harsnett"0],
and was offered ["besides by some noblemen" p ] to be made
one of the King's Chaplains in Ordinary q. Having therefore
have been constantly called into requi- College, as above,
sition by his friends. During his resi- ° [Life, &c. p. 7.]
dence in Ireland as Bp. of Derry, not p [Life, &c. ibid.]
to mention his public employment in q [The account given by Bp. Vesey
every Church commission and visita- (Life, &c. pp. 6, 7.) of the motives of
tion, &c., we find him also privately and Di\ Bramhall in accepting Lord Went-
repeatedly employed by the Lord De- worth's invitation, is so creditable to
puty Wentworth (Ld. Straiibrd) in his him, that it would be injustice to his
own family affairs and those of his memory to omit it. The prospects of
brother-in-law and sister (Rawd. Papers, preferment above-mentioned are there
Nos. v. vi. vii. x. xi. xvi. xxxiii.) : when spoken of as pressed upon Bramhall by
in exile, again, during the Rebellion, it his friends, while he himself, acknow-
was to his care that the (then) Marquis ledging " the great force of what they
of Ormond entrusted the management said," declared, that "they might thence
of his property for the benefit of the see that he ' consulted not with flesh
Marchioness, then also abroad (Rawd. and blood;' and solemnly protested in
Papers, No. xxxviii, letter from the Mar- the presence of God, that nothing but an
chioness to Bramhall, — Bramhall' s let- unmingled zeal to serve God and the
ters in this vol., No. VII.) : and, what King in recovering the rights of an cp-
would be curious enough, if it were not pressed Church, which he understood
painful to see a Bishop reduced to so the Lord Deputy had laid, to heart,
low an employment, it was he, during could bias him againrt the inclinations
the same period, who was selected by he had to gratify so many dear and
Charles II. (as we shall see below), noble friends; upon which declaration
while the Dutch and English were at they all desisted from any further fit-
war in 1-6 33, to act as his prize-master tempt, as giving him up to the Will of
at Flushing.] God, which they discerned overruled
11 Life, &c. pp. 4, 5. him in this matter.'']
From the Grace-book of Sidney
VI LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP BRAMHALL.
resigned all his Church preferments in England r, he went
over into Ireland in the year 1633s ; and, a little while after,
obtained the Archdeaconry of Meath, the best in that king
dom. " The first public service he was employed in, was a
regal visitation, in which he was either one of the King's
Commissioners with Baron Hilton, Judge of the Prerogative,
or such a co-adjutor that all was governed by his directions."
In this visitation [, of which he gives an account to Archbishop
Laud in a letter dated* Dublin, August 10th, 1633,] he found
f the revenues of the Church miserably wasted, the discipline
scandalously despised, and the ministers but meanly pro
vided.' The Bishoprics, in particular, " were wretchedly
dilapidated by fee-farms, and long leases at small rents" [F].
But he applied, in process of time, proper remedies to these
several evils. He likewise endeavoured to destroy "some
opinions of general credit, that he judged very prejudicial to a
good life[G], which yet were reverenced almost like articles of
Faith u." In the year 1634, he was promoted to the Bishopric
of Londonderry, and consecrated the sixteenth [it should be
twenty-sixtii} of May, in the chapel of the Castle of Dublin v.
While he enjoyed this See, he very much improved it, not
only in advancing the rents, but also in recovering lands x
detained from his predecessors ; by which means he doubled
the yearly profits of that Bishopric *. But the greatest service
r [This is not strictly correct. The Bramhall in 1638 ; Rawdon Papers,
letter of Laud dated May 14, 1634, Nos. xviii. xix.]
which was quoted in note a, speaks of u Life, &c. pp. 7, 8,9.
English preferment still at that time v Sir James Ware, uhi supra. [Ac-
retained by Bramhall ; and which, upon cording to Harris (as quoted above,
his promotion to the See of Derry, note s), Bramhall held the prebend of
Laud considered him bound to sur- Dunlavan in the Cathedral of St.
render: and it appears from Browne Patrick's, Dublin, in commendam
Willis (Survey of the Cathedr. of York, while Bp. of Derry; but this appears
&c. p. 145.), that the preferment al- from the visitation books of that Cathe-
luded to was his prebendal stall at dral to be an error, Colborne, Bp. of
York, which he did not vacate until Kildare (E'pus Dar., not E'pus Der.)
Aug. 6. 1634.] having held that prebend from 1618
s [He "was admitted Treasurer of until after 1648 (Mason's St. Patrick's,
Christ Church Dublin, Sept. 3, 1633, Notes, p. Ixxxi.).]
by virtue of the King's patent dated the * As Termin [see Letters, No. II.],
30th of the preceding month" (Harris Colahy, &c. [and Desart Martin, 'which
in his edit, of Ware, Art. on Bramh. 'he retrieved to its proper use as mensal
among the Bps. of Derry).] lands, and made a park there for the
t [Letters, No. I. A similar ac- Bishops of the diocese.' Life, &c. p.
count in 1637, upon Bramhall's visit 11.]
to London, is mentioned by Dr. Vesey. y Life, &c. as above, pp. 10, 11.
See also the two letters of Laud to
LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP BRAMHALL. VI I
he did the Church of Ireland, was, by getting, with the Lord
Deputy's assistance, several Acts passed, in the Parliament
which met in that kingdom, July 14, 1634 [H], In pursuance
of these Acts, he abolished the fee-farms that were charged on
church lands, and obtained compositions for the rent, instead
of the small reserved rents. He, likewise, was very instru
mental in getting such impropriations as remained in the
Crown, vested by King Charles I. on the several incumbents,
after the expiration of the leases. Some he recovered by law,
and persuaded many persons possessed of tithes to restore
them, or sufficiently to endow the vicarages, or to grant a
proper salary at least to the curates. Moreover, he himself
purchased abundance of impropriations, either with his own
money, or by large remittances from England2; by money
given by his Majesty to pious uses ; by borrowing large sumg,
and securing them out of the issues of the impropriations he
bought ; by voluntary contributions ; and by a share of the
goods of persons dying intestate. te By these, and other
means, he regained to the Church, in the space of four years,
thirty or forty thousand pounds a-yeara." In the Convocation
that met at the same time, he prevailed upon the Church of
Ireland to be united in the same Faith with the Church of
England [I], by embracing the XXXIX Articles of Religion
agreed upon in the Convocation holden at London in the
year 1562. He would fain also have got the English Canons
established in Ireland: but, notwithstanding his utmost en
deavours, he could obtain no more [through a jealous care
fulness on the part of many among his fellow Bishops, and
especially of the Primate, Usher, for the liberties of the
Church of Ireland b,] than that such of our canons " as were fit
to be transplanted among the Irish should be removed thither,
and others new framed, and added to them." Accordingly, a
book of canons was compiled, chiefly by our Bishop, and
having passed in Convocation, received the royal confirma
tion0. For all these services, he met, from several quarters,
with a great deal of detraction and envy ; and, according to
z ['Abp. Laud designed £40,000 for his Funeral Sermon.]
this purpose out of his own purse.' Life, b [Life, &c. as above, p. 19.]
&c. as above, p. 15.] c [See a full account of this second
a Ibid. pp. 14, Id, 16. [£30,000 is part of the Bishop's labours in Mant's
the sum mentioned by Jer. Taylor in Ch. of Ireland, ch. vii. § 5. pp. 495, &c.|
Vlll LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP BRAMHALL.
the fashion of those times, was charged with Arminianism
and Popery : but " he was not of a spirit to be terrified from
what he thought his duty with noise and ill words d." " Having
thus, for a considerable time, laboured for the good of others,
he thought it time to make some provision for his own family.
In order to it, he took a journey to England in 1637," and
was received with much respect by persons of the highest
quality, particularly in his native county [, and by his former
flocks at Ripon and at York]. But when he came to London,
he was surprised with the news of an information exhibited
against him in the Star Chamber [K], of which however he soon
cleared himself. After having received much honour from
King Charles I. and many civilities from Archbishop Laud,
and other great persons, he returned to Ireland6; and "with
s;x thousand pounds1, for which he sold his estate in England
(but brought over at several times), he purchased another of
good value, and began a plantation at Omagh, in the county
of Tyrone." But the distractions in that kingdom hindered
him from bringing it to perfection8; for he was not without
his share in the troubles that brought Ireland to the brink of
destruction. On the fourth of March 1640-41, articles of
high treason against him, and several of the Prime Ministers
of State11, were exhibited by the House of Commons to the
House of Lords in Ireland ; wherein they were charged
with having " conspired together to subvert the fundamental
laws and government of that kingdom," and to "introduce an
arbitrary and tyrannical government ;" to have ( pronounced
many false, unjust, and erroneous judgments, against law,
which had occasioned divers seditions and rebellions ;' and to
have " laboured to subvert the rights of Parliament, and the
d Life, &c. as above, .pp. 17, 18, 19, g Life, &c. as above, pp. 21, 22.
20. " Never fear when the cause is just, h Viz. Sir Rich. Bolton, Knt, Lord
was one of his usual sayings." Ibid. Chancellor of Ireland ; Sir Gerard
P- 20. Lowther, Knt, Chief Justice of the
e [In February, 163f. See the letter Common Picas; and Sir George Rad-
of Abp. Laud to Bramhall, February eliffe, Knt. [This impeachment was
17. 163|. (Rawd. Papers, No. xviii). laid in Ireland at the same time that
He was in London in November, 1637, the Earl of Strafford was impeached in
having left Ireland in the latter part of England ; in order, probably, as indeed
the previous September (from letters was said (Nalson, vol. ii. p. 8.) in the
in Rawd. Papers, pp. 41, 42).] case of Sir G. Radcliffe, that the Earl
f [Exaggerated into 30,000 by Pym might be deprived of the assistance of
in opening the charges against the Earl his friends and confidents.]
of Strafford. Nalson, vol. ii. p. 43.]
LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP BRAMHALL. IX
ancient course of Parliamentary proceedings1." The Bishop
was then at Londonderry, when he received intelligence of this
accusation, on the sixth of March. " All his friends wrote to
him to decline the trial, but he thought it dishonourable to
fly/' On the contrary, he repaired to Dublin, and ' shewed
himself the next day in the Parliament house, where his ene
mies stood staring upon him for awhile, and then made him
a close prisoner k. But though all persons were encouraged
to contribute to his ruin !, they found little to object, but his
endeavours to retrieve the ancient patrimony of the Church.
Notwithstanding they examined all his actions with severity,
they could not fix the least tincture of private advantage on
him ; none of his relations, family, or friends, being one far
thing the richer for any thing he had recovered to the Church.'
Not being able, therefore, to make any thing good on that
head, they accused him of having attempted " to subvert the
fundamental laws." In this distress he wrote to the Primate
Usher, then in England, for his advice and comfort [L] ; who
mediated so effectually in his behalf with the King, that his
Majesty sent a letter over to Ireland to stop proceedings
against Bishop Bramhall : but this letter was very slowly
obeyed. However, the Bishop was cat length restored to
liberty, but without any public acquittal, the charge lying
still dormant against him, to be awakened when his enemies
pleased"1.' Shortly after his return to Londonderry, Sir
Phelim O'Neil contrived his ruin in the following manner:
"he directed a letter to him, wherein he desired, fthat, ac
cording to their articles, such a gate of the city should be
delivered to him,' expecting that the Scots in the place
would, upon the discovery, become his executioners." But
the person who was to manage the matter, ran away with the
letter. " Though this design took no place, the Bishop found
no safety there. The city daily filling with discontented
persons, out of Scotland, he began to grow afraid they
would deliver him up. One night they turned a cannon
against his house to affront him; upon which, being per
suaded by his friends to look on that as a warning, he took
' See the Articles at length, printed ! [' There were above 200 petitions
in 1611, 4to. [and in Rushworth and put in against him.' Bp. Taylor, Fun.
Nalson.] Serm.]
t [See Letters, No. V.] m Life, &c, as above, pp. 24, 25, 26.
X LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP BRAMHALL.
their advice, and privately embarked for England." He went
into Yorkshire11, "where, by his example, his frequent ex
hortations from the pulpit, his incessant labours with the
gentry, and his prudent advices to the Marquis of Newcastle,
he put great life into the King's affairs." Moreover, he sent0
a considerable present of plate to his Majesty at Nottingham,
and composed some things in favour of the Royal cause, of
which we shall give an account below?. " Thus he continued
active all the time of his being in England ;" that is, till the
unfortunate battle of Marston Moor [July 2, 1644] : but, after
that, the King's affairs being entirely grown desperate, the
Bishop embarked with [the Marquis of Newcastle and] several
[other] persons of distinction, and landed at Hamburgh, July
8, 1644q[M]. Thence he went to Brussels, "where he con
tinued for the most part till the year 1648, with Sir Henry
de Vic, the King's Resident, preaching constantly every
Sunday, and frequently administering the Sacrament [and
confirming such as desired it]. The English merchants of
Antwerp, ten leagues thence, used to be monthly of his
audience and communion, and were his best benefactors."
In the year 1648, he returned into Ireland; and after having
undergone several dangers and difficulties [N], narrowly
escaped thence in a little barkr [O]. On his arrival in fo
reign parts, Providence supplied him with a considerable sum
of money, of which he greatly stood in need5; for having
had seven hundred pounds long due to him, for salmon
caught in the river Bann1 and sent abroad, which debt he
looked upon as lost, he was now so fortunate as to recover
n [He preached at York, Jan. 28, 1645 (Works, p. 984. fol. edit.) ; and at
164|. before the M. of Newcastle. See Paris in the autumn of that year (where
his Sermon, Works, Part iv. Discourse he met with Hobhes ; see below note
ii.] U).]
0 [He refused at the same time a sum r [He was at Rotterdam again Oct. 1,
of ^500 offered him by the M. of New- 1648. (Note of the M. of Newcastle to
castle out of the public stock. Life, &c. him of that date, in Rawd. Papers, p.
p. 27.] 93.).]
p Ibid. pp. 26, 27. See below, note « Life, &c. pp. 27, 28.
[U]. It was then he wrote " Serpent r Where there is a fine Salmon fishery
Salve." [But the writer in the Biogr. belonging to the Bishop of London-
Britann. is wrong in saying that he derry [See Letters, Nos. II. and IX.].
wrote "Fair Warning" at this time. The Bishop had also some relief from
It was not written until 1649.] the Lord Scudamore ; see View of the
q Historical Recollections, &c. by I. Churches of Door, &c. Lond. 1727,
Rushworth, vol. v. edit. 1721, p. 637. 4to. by Mr. Gibson, p. 110.
[Bramhall was at Brussels, June 20,
LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP BRAMHALL.
XL
it; which proved a seasonable relief both to him and to
many royalists that partook of his generosity". During this
second time of his being abroad, ( he had many disputes
about religion with the learned of all nations, sometimes
occasionally, and at other times by appointment and formal
challenge ;' and wrote several things in defence of the Church
of England x. He, likewise, purposed to draw a parallel be
tween the liturgy of the Church of England, and the public
forms of the Protestant Churches ; and " for that end de
signed a journey into Spain ;" " but he met with an unex
pected diversion in his first day's journey into that king
dom" y[P]. At the same time, there was a great friendship
and correspondence between him and the Marquis of Mon-
trose7', whose cause he often recommended to the favour and
justice of foreign princes. Upon the restoration of the Church
and monarchy, Bishop Bramhall returned to England a; and
was, from the first, designed for some higher promotion.
u [Dr. Bramhall was reduced for a
short time, as has been hinted already,
to act as prize-master, and even to sell
the prizes in person, for Charles II.,
during the war between the English
Commonwealth and the Dutch ; for
which purpose he resided at Flushing
in the latter part of 1653 (Letters of in
telligence from Holland, in Sept., Oct.,
and Nov., 1653, in Thurloe's State
Papers, vol. i. pp. 464, 514, 585, 586).
He complains himself of the hardships
and indignities to which he and his
brother exiles were exposed, in his
"Just Vindication, &c." ch. x. (Works,
p. 136. fol. edit.), published in 1654.
It appears (from his Letters; see also
Thurloe's State Papers, vol. ii. p. 601.
vol. v. p. 645) that he resided princi
pally, during this second banishment,
in Holland, but in a very unsettled
condition ; now at the Hague, now at
Antwerp, now at Aken (Aix la Cha-
pelle), and again at Bruges, at Utrecht,
(Rawd. Papers, p. 103) or at Brussels
(Life of Dean Barwick, p. 424. Eng.
edit.), as circumstances compelled. He
was at Paris Dec. 30, 1651 (Contempor.
.Tourn, quoted by Bray, Mem. of Evelyn,
vol. v. p. 275. 8vo. edit.), at the court
of Charles II. (then still acknowledged
by the French government), at which
time and place he probably wrote his
Answer to La Milletiere (see below,
note U).]
x [The whole of his discourses against
the Roman Catholics and against
Hobbes, together with the two against
Baxter and upon the Sabbath Day,
were written within this period, i. e. be
tween 1649 and 1660.] See below,
note [U] ; and Life, pp. 29, &c. [and
Bramhall' s own account of his la
bours for the English Church at this
time in his " Vindication of Episcop.
Clergy," c. v., Works, p. 524. fol. edit.]
y Life, &c. p. 33. and ["Serpent Salve,"
c. xii.] Works, p. 511. [fol. edit. See
also Letters, No. VIII., and the addi
tional remarks at the end of note U.]
z Life, &c.p. 29. [The Bishop's eldest
daughter (as will be seen below, p. xiii.)
was married subsequently to Sir James
Graham, whose father the Earl of Mon-
teith was nearly related to the great
Marquis.]
a In October, 1660 (Public Intelli
gence, 4to.). [Bramhall was in London
more than two months before the time
here assigned, and in all probability came
over from Holland immediately upon
the Restoration. He writes to his wife
from London, July 7, 1660, having then
already passed more than a fortnight
there (Letters, No. XII.) ; and Evelyn
speaks of " saluting his old friend, the
Abp. of Armagh, formerly of London
derry," in London, Jiily 28, of the Fame
year (Diary under that date).]
Xll LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP BRAMIIALL.
Most people imagined it would be the Archbishopric of
York ; but at last he was appointed Archbishop of Armagh,
Primate and Metropolitan of all Irelandb [Q], to which he
was translated the 18th of January 1660-61 c. Not long
after, ' he consecrated, in one day, Dr. Margetson, Archbishop
of Dublin ; Dr. Pullen, of Tuam ;' and the following " ten
Bishops ; Dr. Boyle, Bishop of Cork ; Dr. Parker, of Elfin ;
Dr. Jeremy Taylor, of Down ; Syng, of Lymerick ; Price, of
Leighlin ; Baker, of Waterford ; Wild, of Derry ; Lessly, of
Dromore; Worth, of Killalow; and Hall, of Killala." The
ceremony " was performed in the cathedral church of St.
Patrick, Dublin, [the sermon being preached by the Bishop
of Down, and] the Lords Justices and Council attending d."
In this same year he visited his diocese, where he found great
disorder ; some having committed horrible outrages, and
many imbibed very strong prejudices, " both against his
person, and the doctrine and discipline of the Church: but
by lenity and reproof, by argument and persuasion, by long-
suffering [and doctrine], he gained upon them even beyond
his own expectation. He used to say, men must have some
time to return to their wits, that had been so long out of
them :" therefore, ' by his prudence and moderation he greatly
softened the spirit of opposition, and effectually obtained the
point he aimed at6' [R]. ' As he was, by his place, President
of the Convocation which met the 8th of May 1661, so he
was also, for his merit, chosen Speaker of the House of
Lords,' in the Parliament which met at the same timef[S].
And so great a value had both Houses for him, that ' they ap
pointed committees to examine what was upon record in
their books concerning him and the Earl of Strafford, and
ordered the charges against them to be torn out, which was
accordingly done8.' In this Parliament "many advantages
b Life, &c. p. 34. quoted by Mant (Ch. of Ireland, ch. ix.
0 Sir James Ware's Works, as above. § 2. p. 631) from Orrery's State Papers
d Ware's Works, in the Lives of those (vol. i. p. 34) ; and another Letter of
respective Prelates ; and Life, as above, Lord Orrery to Bramhall himself in the
p. 35. [and Jer. Taylor's Consecration Rawd. Papers (No. Iviii.),]
Sermon, Works, vol. vi. pp. 301, &c. g [' The Convocation also acknow-
See also the circumstantial account of ledged his services in an instrument,
the ceremony in Mason's St. Patrick's designed to be made public, but uu-
(pp. 192—194).] happily mislaid or lost.' Life, &c. p.
« Life, &c. as above, pp, 35, 36. 37. See also Jer. Taylor's Funeral
f [See the Letter of Lord Orrery Sermon.]
LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP BRAMHALL. XI 11
were procured, and more designed, for the Church, in which
Archbishop Bramhall was very industrious. Several of the
Bishops obtained their augmentations through his inter
cession; as likewise the inferior clergy the forfeited impro-
priate tithes ; and the whole Church all the advantageous
clauses in the acts of settlement and explanation" [, f although
she did not reap the benefit of them to the full extent that
was intended11].' "There were two bills, for the passing of
which he took great pains, but was defeated in both :" one
was, " for making the ti thing-table of Ulster the rule for
the whole kingdom:" the other, "for enabling the Bishops
to make leases for sixty years V About this time he had a
violent sickness^ being the second fit of a palsy k, which was
very near putting an end to his life ; but he recovered.
' Before his death, he was intent upon a royal visitation, in
order to the correction of some disorders he had observed,
and the better settlement of ministers upon their cures," by
a more convenient distribution or union of parishes, and the
building of churches1: but he could not put this, and some
other designs he had formed, in execution. A little before
his death he visited his diocese, and having provided for
the repair of his cathedral, and other affairs suitable to his
pastoral office, he returned to Dublin about the middle of
May 1663. The latter end of the month following, he was
seized with the third fit of the palsy [T], which quickly put
an end to his life™. By his wife mentioned above, he had
four children, a son and three daughters. The son, Sir Thomas
Bramhall, Bart, married the daughter of Sir Paul Davys,
Knt. Clerk of the Council, and died without issue. Of the
daughters ; the eldest [Isabella] was married [not long before
her father's death] to Sir James Graham, son to the Earl of
Monteith ; the second [Jane] to Alderman [Toxteath] of Drog-
heda, and the third [Anne] to Standish [Hartstong], Esq.,
h [Harris in his edition of Ware, from XV). He is spoken of as " old and in-
Vesey's Life.] firm," and " unable to last long," in a
1 Life, &c. as above, pp. 37, 38. [See letter of Dean Barwick to Ld. Claren-
the letter and petition upon the subject, don, 14th September, 1659. Life of
Letters, No. XIII.] Barwick, p. 439. Eng. Edit.]
k [Apparently in January 1G6§, at l Life, &c. p. 39.
which time he made his will (Jer. Tay- m [June 25, in the 70th year of his
lor's Fun. Serin., and the will itself age (Ware, as before quoted).]
among Bramhall's Letters, &c. No.
XIV LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP BRAMHALL.
[subsequently to the Archbishop's decease11] . Among otherbene-
factions, the Archbishop left a legacy of five hundred pounds
for the repair of the Cathedral of Armagh, and St. Peter's at
Drogheda0. We shall give an account of his works in the
note [U], With regard to his person and character; he was
" of a middle stature and active, but his mien and presence
not altogether so great as his endowments of mind. His
complexion was highly sanguine, pretty deeply tinctured
with choler, which in his declining years became predomi
nant, and would sometimes overflow, not without some
tartness of expression, but it proceeded no farther P." As " he
was a great lover of plain-dealing and plain-speaking i," "so
his conversation was free and familiar, patient of any thing in
discourse but obstinacy; his speech ready and intelligible,
smooth and strong, free from affectation of phrase or fancy,
saying, it was a boyish sport to hunt for words, and argued a
penury of matter, which would always find expression for
itself. His understanding was very good, and greatly im
proved by labour and study." " As a scholar, his excellency
lay in the rational and argumentative part of learning." He
was, also, well acquainted " with ecclesiastical and other
histories; and in the pulpit an excellent persuasive orator."
He was a firm friend to the Church of England1", " bold in the
defence of it, and patient in suffering for it ; yet he was very
far from any thing like bigotry. He had a great allowance
and charity for men of different persuasions, looking upon
those Churches as in a tottering condition that stood upon
nice opinions." Accordingly, he made a " distinction be
tween articles necessary for peace and order, and those that
n Life, &c. p. 39. [and the Abp.'s of Hastings, Sir Arthur Rawdon, the
will, as before referred to. The names grand-father of the first Earl of Moira
of the husbands of the Abp.'s younger (and the nephew and only representative
daughters are spelt inaccurately by the of the last Earl of Conway), having mar-
writer in the Biogr. Britann. They are ried Miss Helen Graham (Preface to
here corrected from Dr. Vesey's Life. Rawdon Papers. — Collins' Peerage by
Mr. Hartstong " was one of the Barons Sir Egert. Brydges, vol. vi. p. 684, and
of the Exchequer;" and the Sir James note).]
Graham, who married the eldest daugh- ° Life, &c. pp. 39, 42, 43. [See also
ter, was " the third and youngest son of the Abp.'s will, as above referred to.]
William, Earl of Monteith and Airth," p Life, &c. as above, p. 43.
and by his daughter Helen, the only q Ibid. p. 21.
issue of his marriage with Miss Bram- r [" Tenacious of the Catholic Tradi-
hall, became the maternal ancestor of tion," are Bp. Vesey's words.]
the Earls of Moira and the Marquisses
LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP BRAMHALL. XV
are necessary to salvation ;" and he " often declared, That
the Church was not to be healed but by general proposi-
* Life, Sic. p. 43. [Compare his Works, p. 937, fol. edit.]
Discourse on Sabbath and Lord's Day,
APPENDIX.
[A] Being descended from an ancient and genteel family. ,] Namely,
"from the Bramhalls, of Bramhall-Hall in Cheshire a, related hy
intermarriage to the Keresfords, of Keresford in Yorkshire, a house
that has flourished in a direct line from the time of King Henry
IIV
[B] And put under the care of Mr. Hulet.~] The Right Reverend
author of his life, Bishop Vesey, informs us, That " he became there
master of the arts and sciences before he had the degree ; all his
acts and exercises being still performed with that easiness and
smoothness which argues clean strength and sufficiency0."
[C] He had two public disputations at North- Allerton, with a
secular Priest and a Jesuit.~\ These two Papists d had sent a public
defiance to all the Protestant clergy in that country (at a time
when the match between Prince Charles and the Infanta of Spain
was in agitation, and they expected from thence great advantages
and countenance to their own religion), and when none durst accept
the challenge, our author undertook the combat. " Though he was
then but about thirty years of age, and a stripling in the school of
controversy," yet he managed the dispute so well, " that his an
tagonists, and their whole party, had reason to repent of the inso
lence of their adventure. One of the subjects of the disputation
was the article of Transubstantiation, from whence they easily
sliding into that other of the Half- Communion, he shamefully
baffled their doctrine of concomitancy, and drove the disputant up
to so narrow a corner, that he affirmed that eating was drinking and
drinking was eating in a material or bodily sense. Mr. Bramhall
looked on this as so elegant a solecism, that he needed no greater
trophy, if he could get under his hand, what he had declared with
his tongue ; which being desired, was by the other, in his heat, and
shame to seem to retreat, as readily granted. But upon cooler
thoughts, finding perhaps, after the heat of the contest was over,
that he could not quench his thirst with a piece of bread, he re-
» [A brother of the Bishop is men- h Life, &c. as above, p. 2.
tioned incidentally by Laud in a letter c Life, &c. as above, p. 2.
to Dr. Bramhall (dated in February d Hungate, a Jesuit, and Hough ton,
1637, Rawd, Papers, 'p. 53), in con- a secular Priest. See Archbishop Bram-
nection with the gentry of Cheshire.] hall's Works, p. 624 [fol. edit.].
APPENDIX. XV11
fleeted so sadly on the dishonour he had suffered, that, not being
able to digest it, in ten days he died." Archbishop Matthews,
hearing of this disputation, " sent for Mr. Bramhall, and at first
rebuked him for his hardiness in undertaking a disputation so
publicly without allowance ; but soon forgave him6."
[D] During the life of the Archbishop he was made Prebendary
of York.~] So we are assured by the Right Reverend author of his
Lifef. But according to Browne Willis, Esq.s, he was not made
prebendary of York till the 13th of June, 1633, five years after the
death of Archbishop Matthews ; so that one of these two authors
must be mistaken. The prebend he had, was that of Hustwaith,
in the Church of York.
[E] He took the degree of Doctor in Divinity.'] The thesis he dis
puted upon, on that occasion, was this : Pontifex Romanus est causa,
vel procreans vel conservans, omnium vel saltern prcecipuarum con-
trover siarum in orbe Christiano, i. e. ' The Pope is the author, or
maintainer, of all, or at least of the chief, controversies in the
Christian world.' And in all his exercises, then, " he made it ap
pear that he had not lost his time in the country, nor evaporated
all in pulpit discourses, but that he had furnished himself with very
substantial learning11." [His own account is more accurate. It is
as follows : — " When I disputed in Cambridge for the degree of
Doctor, my thesis was taken out of Nilus1, that the Papacy (as it
was challenged and usurped in many places, and as it had been
sometime usurped in our native country) was either the procreant
or conservant cause, or both the procreant and conservant cause,
&c.k" He had preached upon a similar subject, viz. " the Pope's
unlawful usurpation of jurisdiction over the Britannic Churches," at
an earlier period, before a Synod of the Province of York, apparently
that of 16201. It is curious to observe how early and how con
tinually his attention was turned to the subject of his subsequent
treatises against the Romanists.]
[F] The Bishoprics were dilapidated by fee-farms, and long leases
* Life, &c. as above, p. 3. [See also k [" Vindication of the Episcopal
the " Vindic. of Episcop. Clergy," c. Clergy, &c." c. v. Works, p. 623. fol.
v. Works, p. 624. fol. edit.] edit]
f Life, &c. as above, p. 4. 1 [" Vindication, &c., as quoted in
8 Survey of the Cathedrals of York, last note. Bramhall, it will be re-
&c. edit. 1727, 4to. vol. i. p. 145. membered, did not take Orders until
h Life, &c. as above, p. 5. after 1616, and the sermon here al-
1 [Bramhall must mean that he took luded to was preached before 1623, the
the hint of this subject from Nilus date of his disputation at North- Aller-
(Abp. of Thessalonica, De Primatu ton ; consequently in the year above
Papse), as neither the words nor the given, there having been no other
exact sentiment occur in that author.] northern Synod within the interval.]
I'.nAMHALL. C
XV1U APPENDIX.
at small rents. ,] These had been " granted, partly by the Popish
Bishops, who resolved to carry as much with them as they could,"
and " partly by their Protestant successors, who might fear another
turn, and were, having their example, disposed enough to make use
of the same arts. By such means on the one side and the other,
many Bishoprics were made" extremely small: some reduced to
one hundred pounds per annum ; some to fifty, as Waterford, Kil-
fenoragh, &c. ; some to five marks, as Kilmacduagh, and particu
larly Cloyne, the Bishop whereof was called Episcopus quinque
marcarum, the five-marks-Bishop. Aghadoe was only one pound
one shilling and eight pence ; and Ardfert but sixty pounds. Lyme-
rick had above five parts in six made away by fee-farms, or en
croached on by undertakers. The like was done in Cashel, Emly,
Waterford, Lismore, and Killaloe. In some dioceses, as in Ferns
and Leighlin, there was scarcely a living left that was not farmed
out to the patron, or to some for his use, at two, three, four, or five
pounds per annum, for a long time, three lives, or a hundred
years m.
[G] He likewise endeavoured to destroy some opinions of general
credit, that Tie judged very prejudicial to a good life.~\ " He was
very desirous to abate of their value, and to reduce them to what
they ought only to pass for, school opinions, that so men might have
the liberty of their private reasons [salvd Fide and salvd caritate].
He could not endure to see some. men enslave their judgment to
a person or a party, that cry up nothing more than Christian liberty.
He thought that liberty was much confined by being chained to any
man's chair, as if all he .uttered were" oracles, "and to be made the
standard and test of orthodoxy : that the Christian faith and liberty
are then most in danger, when so many things are crowded into
confessions, that what should be practical, becomes purely a science,
of a rule of life an useless speculation, of a thing easy to be under
stood, a thing hard to be remembered : that it was the interest of
the Protestant Church to widen her bottom, and make her Articles as
charitable and comprehensive as she could, that those nicer accu
racies, that divide the greatest wits in the world, might not be made
the characteristics of reformation, and give occasion to one party to
excommunicate and censure another. Thus he saw the Church of
England constituted ; both Calvinists and Arminians .... sub
scribing the same propositions, and ' walking to the house of God as
friends".' "
m Life, &c. as above, pp. 7, 8. 25. [and words between brackets are Dr. Ve-
Letters, Nos. I. and VI.] sey's.]
n Life, &c. as above, p. 9. [The
APPENDIX. XIX
[H] Several acts passed in the Parliament, which met in that king
dom, July the 14th, 1634.] The first was, "A statute for the main
tenance and execution of pious uses," obliging all 'Archbishops and
Bishops to perform every such trust according to the true intent
of the deeds in that behalf made, or to be made0.' The next was,
"A statute for confirmation of leases made by the Lord Primate, and
other Bishops in Ulster," of such endowments as had been made
by King James to the Archbishopric of Armagh, the Bishoprics of
Derry, Clogher, Raphoe and Killmore, giving them power, any time
within five years, to make leases for sixty years of such lands P.
By this statute, the Church was enabled, on the surrender of titles
to fee-farms, and some improvement of rent, to make leases, as
above, for sixty years ; "by which means she was in many places
bettered at present, and had a hopeful prospect of recovering her
full right at last." But the best defence of the Irish Church, was
the statute entitled, "An Act for the preservation of the inheritance,
rights, and profits, of lands belonging to the Church and persons
ecclesiastical V " This limited them to time and rent, prescribed
what they might set, and for what, and how long, and is the security
of succession." — Care also was taken of the inferior clergy, in.
another Act, which enableth " restitution of impropriations and
tithes, and other rights ecclesiastical, to the clergy, with a restraint
of aliening the same, and direction for the presentations to
churches1"."
[I] In the Convocation that met at the same time, he prevailed upon
the Church of Ireland to be united in the same Faith with the Church
of England.'] The Faith of both was the same in the main, only
with this difference, that the Irish Articles were more rigid and
Calvinistical. Of this no better reason can be given, than that the
first reformers in Ireland, on account of the great number of Papists
in that kingdom, endeavoured to guard against them as much as
possible. "Therefore, like burnt children, which so much dread
the fire that they think they can never be far enough from their
fear, they became very dogmatical in some propositions (most oppo
site, as they conceived, to the Church of Rome), left undetermined
by the Church of England." Now Bishop Bramhall "laboured, in
the Convocation, to have the correspondence more entire and accu-
Sir Richard Bolton's Statutes of rents of the See of Ardmagh in par-
Ireland, Sess. 3. c. 1. fol. 50. ticular were improved ,£735 4s. 4d.
q Ibid. c. 5. fol. 56. yearly, more than usual. [Letter of
P Sess. 4. c. 3. fol. 78. Abp. Usher to Bramhall, dated Fe-
r Ibid, c. 2. fol. 75. In pursuance, bruary 25. 1635, in Bvamhall's] Life,
and by the benefit, of these Acts, the &c. as above, p. 1 3.
C 2
XX APPENDIX.
rate; and discoursed, with great moderation and sobriety, of the
convenience of having the articles of peace and communion in every
national Church worded in that latitude, that dissenting persons, in
those things that concerned not the Christian Faith, might subscribe,
and the Church not lose the benefit of their labours for an opinion
which it may be they could not help ; that it were to be wished
such articles might be contrived for the whole Christian world, but
especially that the Protestant Churches under the King's dominion
might 'all speak the same language;' and, particularly, that those
of England and Ireland, being reformed by the same principle and
rule of Scripture [expounded by universal tradition, Councils,
Fathers, and other ways of conveyance8], might confess their Faith
in the same form." Persuaded by these arguments, the Convocation
drew up a canon which is as follows : " For the manifestation of
our agreement with the Church of England in the confession of the
same Christian Faith, and the doctrine of the Sacraments, we do re
ceive and approve the book of Articles of religion agreed upon by
the Archbishops and Bishops and the whole clergy in the Convoca
tion holden at London in the year 1562, &c. And, therefore, if
any hereafter shall affirm, that any of those articles are in any part
superstitious or erroneous, or such as he may not with a good con
science subscribe unto, let him be excommunicated, and not absolved
before he make public revocation of his error1."
[K] An information exhibited against him in the Star Chamber.']
" The charge was, ' That he was present at Ripon when one
Mr. Palmer had made some reflecting discourse upon his Majesty,
and that his Lordship had taken no notice of it, either to reprove
him or inform against him.' The words .... deserved no very
capital punishment, if they had been true, being no more than,
' That he feared a Scottish mist was come over their town ;' because
the King had altered his lodgings from Ripon, where he had de
signed them, to one Sir Richard Graham's house, not far from that
place : but the Bishop .... easily cleared the whole company11."
[It seems that this was not the only charge made upon this occa
sion against Dr. Bramhall. Another, equally groundless and equally
unsuccessful, ' of having uttered some yeomanly language upon the
serving and executing a commission out of the Court of the Star
'[The words between brackets are tion; afterwards Archbishop of Cashel.'
Dr. Vesey's, the sentence now standing — See also the Constitutions and Canons
as he wrote it] of the Synod at Dublin, A. D. 1634,
1 Life, &c. pp. 17, 18. ['from the in- Can. 1, in Wilkins, Concil., torn. iv.
formation of Thos. Price, then Arch- p. 498. and the additional remarks at
deacon of Kilmore, and consequently a the end of note U.]
member of the lower house of Convoca- u Life, &c. p. 22.
APPENDIX. XXI
Chamber,' was brought against him by one Mr. Bacon at the
same timev.]
[L] In this distress he wrote to the Primate Usher, then in England,
for his advice and comfort,"] This letterx is dated April 26, 1641.
Archbishop Usher, in his answer, has these words : "I assure you
my care never slackened in sollicking your cause at Court, with as
great vigilancy as if it did touch mine own proper person. I never
intermitted any occasion of mediating with his Majestic in your
behalf, who still pittyed your case, acknowledged the faithfulness
of your services both to the Church and to him, avowed that you
were no more guilty of treason than himself, and assured me that he
would do for you all that lay in his power, &c." [Abp. Usher con
tinues, — " My Lord Strafford the night before his suffering (which
was most Christian and magnanimous ad stuporem usque], sent me
to the King, giving me in charge among other particulars to put
him in mind of you, and of the other two Lords that are under the
same pressure, &c.V It deserves to be mentioned to the credit
both of Bp. Bramhall and of Abp. Usher, that, although the former
was a man of active zeal and hasty temper, and devoted heart and
soul to the restoration of the Irish Church in a way, which Abp.
Usher opposed, and upon principles, with which he did not sympa
thise, — in times too of strong excitement and violent party-feeling, —
yet there ever existed between them a most friendly and even af
fectionate intercourse : as the above letters among others2 testify,
and as Bramhall (after Usher's death) expressly declares a.]
[M] And landed at Hamburgh, July 8, 1644.] Shortly after, at
the treaty of Uxbridge, the Parliaments of England and Scotland
made this one of their preliminary demands, that Bishop Bramhall
(together with Archbishop Laud, &c.) should be excepted out of the
general pardon b. This was accordingly done, in an ordinance of
indemnity passed by the Rump-Parliament in 1652. [He had
been included likewise in the " First Qualification" of those, against
whom the Parliament demanded liberty to take proceedings, in the
v [Commendatory Letter from the former.]
Ld. Deputy Wentworth to the Ld. a [" I praise God that we" (the Lord
Keeper Coventry in behalf of Dr. Bram- Primate and his Suffragans) " were like
hall, then going to London, September the Candles in the Levitical Temple,
11, 1637. Rawdon Papers, No. xv.] looking one towards another, and all
* [Letters, No. VI.] towards the stem. We had no conten-
y Life, as above, p. 25. [See the tion among us, but who should hate
letter entire in the llawdon Papers, contention most, and pursue the peace
No. xxxiv.] of the Church with swiftest paces."
z [See also Letters, No. X., and (Discourse on the Sabbath, &c. in
Usher's letters in the Rawd. Papers, Bramhall's Works, p. 934. fol. edit).]
Nos. xxiii, and xxxiii, especially the b Dugdale's View, &c. p. 741.
XX11 APPENDIX.
Articles of Peace proposed to King Charles I. (then at Newcastle
in the hands of the Scots) in 1646C.]
[N] And after having undergone several dangers and difficulties^
All the while he was there, " he had his life continually in his hand ;
being in perils by Irish, in perils by his own countrymen, and in
perils by false brethren. At Lymerick, the Earl of Roseommon had
such a fall coming down a pair of stairs, that he lived only so long
to declare his Faith (at Bishop Bramhall's instance) as it is pro
fessed in the Church of England : which gave such offence to the
Romanists there, who would have reported he died a Papist, if he
had not spoken at all, that they threatened the Bishop's death, if
he did not suddenly depart the town. At Portumnagh, indeed, he
and such as went with him enjoyed afterwards more freedom under
the Marquis of Clanrickard's protection, and an allowance of the
Church service : but, at the revolt of Cork, he had a very narrow
deliverance, which Cromwell was so troubled at, that he declared he
would have given a good sum of money for that Irish Canterbury rd."
[O] Narrowly escaped thence in a little bark.~\ This escape of his
is accounted very wonderful : for " the little bark he was in was
closely hunted by two of the Parliament frigates, many of which
were on that coast ; and when they were come so near, that all
hopes of being saved were taken away, .... on a sudden the wind
slackened into a perfect calm, and as it were flew into the sails of
the little vessel, and carried her away in viewe."
[P] But he met with an unexpected diversion in his first day's
journey into that 'kingdom,'] " For he no sooner came into the house
where he intended to refresh himself, but he was known and called
by his name by the hostess. And his Lordship admiring at his
being discovered, she soon revealed the secret, and shewed him his
own picture, and assured him there were several of them upon the
road ; that, being known by them, he might be seized and carried to
the Inquisition ; and that her husband, among others, had power to
that purpose, which he would certainly make use of if he found
him. The Bishop saw evidently he was a condemned man, being
already hanged in effigie, and therefore made use of the advertise
ment, and escaped out of the power of that Court f."
c [Thurloe's State Papers, vol. i. p. p. 193. 4to. edit.) introduces this story,
80.] merely to remark on the word ' pic-
d Life, as above, pp. 27, 28. ture,' that it was ' doubtless his print,
e Life, as above, p. 28. which he never saw.' Sir William
f Life, as above, p. 33. [See also the Musgrave, in his MS. Adversaria (in
additional remarks at the end of note the British Museum), observes that it
U. — " Granger (Biograph. Hist, vol v. was neither a painting nor an engrav-
APPENDIX. XX111
Archbishop of Armagh, Primate and Metropolitan of all
Ireland.~\ The author of his life observes 8, that " no man could be
more acceptable to the clergy there, because none so fit to repair
the breaches of the Church, by knowing to what part every stone
and every piece of timber belonged, as this skilful architect, who,
by assigning the proper place for every thing, had the satisfaction to
see the building rise suddenly out of its ashes, without the noise of
hammer11, or any contradiction ; the authority of his person and of
his judgment silenced all the opposition which one of less veneration
might possibly have met with. All men's expectations were fixed
on him ; and many of the prime nobility and clergy in Eng
land " (particularly the Queen of Bohemia) * " congratulated the-
Church's happiness in his promotion." [It may be worth while to
quote a few words from two of the letters of congratulation here
alluded to : the first, that of the Queen of Bohemia (daughter of
James I.) " who in a letter addressed to his Grace prayed him to be
confident * that none of his friends could be more glad, or wished
him more happiness, than his ever most affectionate friend Eliza
beth11 ;' " the other, that of Lord Caulfield, "afterwards known by the
honourable epithet of the good Lord Charlemont1," who tells him (in
a letter dated Oct. 22, 1660m), that " as the news of your Lordship's
safe arrival is most welcome to me, so is it likewise occasion of great
rejoicing to all those in the kingdom who truly fear God, and pray
for the welfare of his Church : it being yet fresh in the memories of
us all, how eminent an instrument your Lordship hath been long
ing, but 3. description of the person by 33).]
words, which was usually drawn up by * [Perhaps nothing marks more
a painter, and was therefore called a strongly the estimation in which Bp.
picture. But the expression of ' being Bramhall was deservedly held, than the
hanged in effigy,' which, as Granger intimacy which he enjoyed with the
does not mention it, Sir William pro- great and good among every class of
bably never saw, seems to imply some his contemporaries. Among his friends
kind of engraving or caricature.' " are to be numbered (besides the two,
(Chalmers' Biogr. Diet, Art. Bram- whose letters are quoted above) " Lord
hall).] Strafford, Abps. Laud and Usher, Sir
g Page 34. George Radcliffe, Mr. Wandesforde, the
h [Bp. Bramhall " was neither a Marquis of Ormond, Lords Orrery and
boaster of revelations nor an observer of Southampton " (Advertisement to Raw-
dreams ; and yet he would often before don Papers); to whom may be added
the Rebellion of Ireland speak of one, the Marquis of Newcastle, the Mar-
that then much troubled him, which quis of Montrose, Sir William Bos-
was, that being in a very fair Cathedral well, and, lastly, one not the least
Church he thought it suddenly fell upon honourable of the list, Evelyn.]
him, so that he was almost buried in k [Quoted in Rawd. Papers, p. 118,
the rubbish, but, having with much note ; and by Bp. Vesey, Life, &c. p.
difficulty got out, and looking upon it 34.]
some time, he saw it rise up without any 1 [Mant, Ch. of Ireland, ch. ix. § 1.
noise; of every part whereof he lived p. 605.]
to see the verification (Life, &c., p. m [Rawd. Papers, No, liii.]
XXIV APPENDIX.
since in the propagating the true ancient Protestant religion in this
kingdom."]
[R] And effectually obtained the point Tie aimed at.~\ We have
" one instance of his prudence, in turning the edge of the most
popular objection of that time against conformity. When the bene
fices were called over at the visitation, several appeared, and exhi
bited only such titles as they had received from the late powers. He
told them, ' they were no legal titles, but in regard he heard well of
them, he was willing to make such to them by institution and in
duction;'" which they thankfully accepted of. — But when he de
sired " to see their letters of orders, some had no other but their
certificates of ordination by some Presbyterian classes, which, he
told them, did not qualify them for any preferment in the Church.
Upon this, the question arose, ' Are we not Ministers of the Gospel ?'
To which his Grace answered, That was not the question ; at least,
he desired for peace sake, that might not be the question for that
time. 'I dispute not,' said he, 'the value of your ordination, nor
those acts you have exercised by virtue of it ; what you are, or
might be, here when there was no law, or in other Churches abroad.
But we are now to consider ourselves as a national Church limited
by law, which among other things takes chief care to prescribe about
ordination ; and I do not know how you could recover the means
of the Church, if any should refuse to pay you your tithes, if you
are not ordained as the law of this Church requireth ; and I am de
sirous that she may have your labours, and you such portions of
her revenue as shall be allotted you, in a legal and assured way.'
By this means he gained such as were learned and sober n."
[S] Chosen /Speaker of the house of Lords, in the Parliament which
met at the same time.'] The author of his life observes0, that " it is
not easy to say which of the two places he filled best, whether the
Statesman or Divine shined with greater brightness. He had a
judgment so clear, and a speech so plain and persuasive, that he
could readily unravel any intricacy and divide all the parts of the
controversy into their proper sides, so that the heavier scale would
easily shew itself. In short, he so moderated and stated all ques
tions that arose, that few assemblies can boast of so great an interest
being disputed with so little noise (though there wanted not some)
in those kind of arguments wherein men are not usually the most
silent."
[T] The latter end of June he was seized with the third Jit of the
^ Life, &c. pp. 85, 36. [See the ad- ° Page 37.
ditional remarks at the end of note U. ]
APPENDIX. XXV
palsy. .] " He had then a trial for some part of his temporal estate,
at Omagh, with Sir Audley MervynP, depending in the court of
claims ; and there, at the time of hearing, .... the third fit of the
palsy so smote him, that he sunk in the court, was carried out
senseless, and continued so till death finished his work^. Had the
cause een unjust," as the author of his Life [goes on to] observe,
" or adjudged against him, some censorious spirits would not have
spared to have made left-hand judgments from the circumstances
of his death : but his right so appeared on the argument, that he
was a conqueror in his death, and victory and honour wraited upon
him to the grave1."
[U] We shall give an account of his Works, fyc.~\ They were most
of them published [and, excepting three out of the four sermons,
the whole of them written] at different times [during Dr. Bramhall's
exile from Ireland, between 1643 and 1660]. But they were all
reprinted at Dublin [at intervals from 1674 to 1676, and published
together in the last named year, and again with only a trifling
change in the title-page] in the year 1677, in one volume folio, with
this title : — " The Works of the most Reverend Father in God,
John Bramhall, D.D. late Lord Archbishop of Ardmagh, Primate
and Metropolitan of all Ireland. Some of which never before
printed. Collected into one volume. To which is added (for the
vindication of some of his writings), An exact Copy of the Records,
touching Archbishop Parker's Consecration, taken from the original,
in the Registry of the See of Canterbury. As also, the Copy of an
old Manuscript, in Corpus Christi College, in Cambridge, of the
same Subject;" — [with a life of the author prefixed by the
editor Bp. Vesey, and a dedication to Michael (Boyle) then Arch
bishop of Dublin. Very little pains or care however were be
stowed upon either the text or the references by Dr. Vesey, the
collection and arrangement of Bp. Bramhall's Works (with the in
formation contained in the Life,) constituting the only merits of his
edition.]
P [See Letters, No. XII. Sir A. Harris (in his edition of Ware, Art.
Mervyn had opened the proceedings upon Abp. Margetson) has questioned
against Bramhall when he was im- the accuracy on the ground of its in-
peached in 1641, in a very virulent compatibility with the circumstances of
speech, Nalson, vol. ii. pp. 566, &c.] Dr. Bramhall's death; unnecessarily,
q [Bishop Mant (Church of Ire- however, as the Abp. had regarded him-
land, ch. ix. § 2. p. 644) mentions, self as upon his death-bed since his se-
on the authority of Palliser's Funeral cond attack of the palsy three (it should
Oration for Abp. Margetson, that Bra m- be five — See p. xiii. notes k and m)
hall on his death-bed recommended months before.]
that prelate to the Duke of Ormond r Life, &c. p. 42. [See also the Abp.'s
(then Lord Lieutenant) as his sue- will, among his Letters, &c. No. XVI. 1
cessor : an anecdote, he adds, of which
XXVI APPENDIX.
This volume is divided into four Tomes or Parts,
I. Tome I. containeth the Discourses against the Romanists ;
viz.
1. "An Answer to M. de la Militiere" [Milletiere8], "his im
pertinent Dedication of his imaginary Triumph (intitled * The Victory
of Truth'), or his Epistle to the King of Great Britain" (King
Charles II.), " wherein he inviteth his Majesty to forsake the Church
of England, and to embrace the Roman Catholic Religion : with the
said Militiere's" [Milletiere's] "Epistle prefixed."
This was first published at the Hague in [1653], 12mo., but not
by the author. [It was acknowledged by him in his " Just Vindi
cation," &C.4 (published the next year, 1654), "excepting the errors
of the press," of which he there noticed one : and was upon this
again published, but evidently not by Bramhall himself (The Hague,
12mo. 1654), as " corrected according to his Lordship's own direc
tions in his Vindication," &c. viz. with that one error and that only
corrected, together with a few alterations in the (so called) translation,
prefixed to it, of La Milletiere's Epistle. Bayleu, Niceronx, and Bram-
hally himself, speak also of a French translation of the Answer (Geneva,
1655, 8vo.), entitled " Reponse faite par le Commandement du Roi
de la Grande Bretagne a 1'Epitre Dedicatoire du Triomphe Imagi-
naire de M. de la Milletiere," with an "Avis au Lecteur " by the
Genevese editor prefixed : and the original has been again lately
republished in 12mo. from the folio edition (corrected, however, as
it should seem, by that of 1654), with one or two notes and a
memoir of the Author abridged from Dr. Vesey's Life, by the Rev.
G. Ingram, Lond. 1841.]
The occasion of it was, that the Romanists endeavoured to per
suade King Charles II., during his exile, to hope his restoration by
embracing their religion ; and for that purpose employed M. de la
[Milletiere], Counsellor in Ordinary to the King of France, to write
to him [the Epistle in question2. This was published in 1651, at
Paris, where Charles's court then was ; and Dr. Bramhall's reply,
written (if we may trust the Genevese editor) by his Majesty's ex
press command, and probably enough for his private satisfaction a,
s [See noteb, p. 1 0. (marginal paging) p. 627. fol. edit]
of La Milletiere's Epistle.] z Life, &c. as above, pp. 29, 30. [and
* [c. x. Works, Part i. Discourse ii. Jer. Taylor's Fun. Serm.]
p. 136, fol. edit] a [Bramhall's tract was not designed
"• [Dictionn., Art Milletiere.] for publication, but was written for
x [Memoires, &c. torn. xli. Art. Mil- some private purpose unspecified ("Just
letiere.] ^ Vindication," &c. c. x. as quoted in
y [" Vindic. of Episcop. Clergy," &c. note t).]
c. vi., Works, Part ii. Discourse iii.
APPENDIX. XXV11
was apparently composed b at the same place at the close of the
same year0.]
2. " A Just Vindication of the Church of England from the unjust
Aspersion of Criminal Schism, wherein the Nature of criminal
Schism, the divers Sorts of Schismatics, the Liberties and Privi
leges of National Churches, the Rights of Sovereign Magistrates,
the Tyranny, Extortion, and Schism, of the Roman Court, with the
Grievances, Complaints, and opposition of all Princes and States of
the Roman Communion of Old, and at this very Day, are manifested
to the View of the World."
First printed at London [in 1654, 8vo., 'from a written copy,
during the Author's absence,' he being then in Holland ; and again,
with the " Replication," &c. (Part i. Discourse iii.) bound up
under the same title-page, also at London] in 1661, 8vo., [but ap
parently, as before, without the author's superintendence, this
second being merely a reprint of the first edition with the errata
corrected.
The immediate occasion of this treatise, which was originally
designed to form an appendix to the Answer to La Milletiered,
seems to have been the publication abroad by English Roman
Catholics of several works6, in which the accusation of schism was
put forward prominently, as an unanswerable confutation of the
pretensions of the English Church f.] In this Discourse [, accordingly,
>» [See the Answer itself, p. 23, note 1. Fidei, Paris, 1652. 8vo — Mr. Knott's
p. 78, note 1. of the present edit; and "Infidelity Unmasked;" Gant, 1652.
that Bramhall was in Paris in Decem- 4to.]
her 1651, see above, p. xi. note u. His f [The general tone of the controversy
previous residence in Holland may be with the Romanists seems to have
traced in the Dutch words, which occa- turned at this time very much upon the
sionally occur in this tract] question of Schism. Dr. Hammond's
0 [In reply to Baxter's objections to treatise " Of Schism," and another, by
the " Answer," Bramhall observes Dr. Feme, " Of the Division between
(Vindic. of Episcop. Clergy, c. vi. as the English and Romish Church upon
quoted in note y), that abroad " it hath the Reformation," &c., had been pub-
been more happy, — to confirm many, lished in London in 1653, and Sir Roger
to convert some (and particularly the Twysden's "Historical Vindication of
transcriber of the copy which was brought the Church of England in point of
to the press)," " to irritate no man but Schism" followed Bramhall's (but to
the common adversaries, who vented all appearance independently) in 1657
their spleen against it weekly in their (Lond. 4to.)- The latter is partly a
pulpits, as thinking that the easiest way reply to a " Treatise of the Schism of
of confutation;" adding, that "some" of England" by Philip Scot (Amsterd,
the old Episcopal Divines, (i. e. of Eng- 1650), but is partly also directed against
land) had " approved it and thanked the arguments of the Romanists gene-
him for it"] rally. Sir G. Radcliffe again writes
d [Answer to La Millet, pp. 36. 60. to Bramhall from Paris, July 21, 1656
of the present edit, and the Just Vin- (Rawd. Papers, p. 102), that he had
dication, &c. as quoted in note t] met there " with sundry very learned
e [The Appendix (De Schismate) to men," who seemed "to agree" with
Dr. Holden's book De Resolutione him "in points of Faith, and particu-
XXV111 APPENDIX.
the Author] proves [among other points], That the separation from
the Court of Rome was not made by Protestants, but Roman
Catholics themselves £; That the Britannic Churches were ever
exempted from all foreign jurisdiction for the first six hundred
years h; and had both sufficient authority and sufficient grounds to
withdraw their obedience from Rome*. [Although such however
may have been the immediate occasion of the work, yet the subject
had dwelt in the author's mind long previously, and appears indeed
to have been his favourite topick.]
3. "A Replication to the Bishop of Chalcedon" (Richard Smith)
" his ' Survey of the Vindication of the Church of England from
Criminous Schism,' clearing the English laws from the Aspersion of
Cruelty. With an Appendix in Answer to the exceptions of S. W."
[(William Sergeant), " or a Reply to S. W.'s 'Refutation of the
Bp. of Derry's Just Vindication of the Church of England.' "]
Printed at first [in London, 1656, 8vo., the "Survey," &c. by
R. C. (i. e. Richard Chalcedon) having appeared in 1654. The
unsold copies of this edition were bound up, under a common title-
page,] with [the new impression, in 1661, of] the " Just Vindi
cation," &c.
4. " Schism Guarded, and beaten back upon the right Owners,
Shewing, — that our great Controversie about Papal power, is not a
question of Faith, but of Interest and Profit, not with the Church
of Rome but with the Court of Rome ; wherein the true Contro
versie doth consist ; who were the first Innovators ; when, and
where, these Papal Innovations first began in England ; with the
Opposition that was made against them."
This [was first1 printed at the Hague, 1658, 8vo. ; and republished
but not reprinted in the following year in London, with " The Con
secration and Succession," &c. (the treatise to be next mentioned)
bound up with it, and an additional title-page for the whole volume,
as follows ; " 'Potato. Aio-ropos 'O£eTa, or, The Church of England
larly about the Pope's jurisdiction, and he " never saw anything written of that
the Bread in the Sacrament, which two argument so clearly, so fully, so con-
points" he had "thought most irre- vincingly ; and therefore " he adds, " I
concileable ;" but "the Schism" was heartily thank your Lordship for it, not
" that only which is now the block be- only in my own name, but of the whole
tween us." See also a preceding letter Clergy and Church of England, which
of his (Rawd. Papers, pp. 99, 100).] thereby is notably vindicated from the
E Ch. iii. greatest prejudice that lay upon her, or
h Ch. v. could with any probability be objected
1 Ch. vi. to her," &c. (Life, &c. pp. 30, 31.).]
k See above, note E. [A letter of 1 [Advertisement to Reader, dated
Bp. Morley to the author upon the pub- March 11, 1658 stilo novo, and pre-
lication of this work is quoted by Dr. fixed to the " Castigations of Mr.
Vesey, in which that Bishop says that Hobbes," Works, p. 734. fbl. edit.] '
APPENDIX. XXIX
Defended, in two treatises, against the fabulous and slanderous im
putations cast upon her in the two points of Succession of Bishops,
and Schisme, wherein the Fable of the Nag's Head Ordination is
detected, and the accusation of Schism retorted."
It] is an answer to a book entitled, " Schism Dispatcht, [or, A Re
joinder to the Replies of Dr. Hammond and the Lord of Deny"
(i. e. to Dr. Hammond's " Disarmer's Dexterities Examined," Lond.
1656, and to Bramhall's Reply to S. W. in the appendix to his
" Replication," &c., above mentioned) ;] by S. W. i. e. Will. Ser
geant [1657. 8vo.] ; and our Author proves therein, [among other
points,] that the Pope hath no legislative nor judiciary power in
England"1.
5. " The Consecration and Succession of Protestant Bishops
justified. The Bishop of Duresme Vindicated. And that infamous
Fable, of the Ordination at the Nag's Head, clearly confuted."
This [appears to have been, from its subject, among the most
popular of Dr. Bramhall's Works. It was first published at the
Hague in 1658, and again, as above mentioned, with "Schism
Guarded," in London, in 1659. A third edition (Lond. 1664. 8vo.)
is mentioned by Nicolson11, separately from "Schism Guarded;"
and a fourth, also separate, appeared in 1716 (Lond. 8vo.).
It] is an answer [partly] to a calumny of two Jesuits, Father
Talbot and Father B , against our Author. And the Bishop
of Durham here vindicated, is Bishop Morton, who was charged by
the same Fathers [upon the authority of a certain Nobleman, viz.
Lord Audley0], — "in 1640, when some Presbyterian Lords pre
sented to the Upper House a book, proving, that the Protestant
Bishops had no Succession or Consecration, and therefore were no
Bishops," — to have made a speech against that book ; and " en
deavoured to prove succession from the last" [Roman] " Catholic
Bishops, who, by imposition of hands, ordained the first Protestant
Bishops at the Nag's Head in CheapsideP." — In opposition to this,
Bishop Morton i, and such of the Spiritual and temporal Lords as
were in the House in 1640 and still living in 1658, made solemn
m Sect. i. ch. 6, 7. hall in his Reply, ch. ii. Works, p. 430.
n [Eng. Hist. Libr. p. 138. 3rd edit.] fol. edit.]
0 [Neither Bramhall nor the Fathers q~[Dean Barwick, then chaplain to
had in the first instance named this Bp. Morton, was about to reply to
nobleman, but the latter (or their re- the story ; but hearing of the Bp. of
presentative) broke through their scru- Derry's intention, he handed over the
pies in their reply. See the " Nullity materials, which he had collected, to
of the Prelatique Clergy, by N. N." him (Life of Barwick, by his brother,
ch. ix.] p. 174. Eng. Transl.). See the work
p [These are "the words of the Fa- itself, ch. ii. p. 432, fol. edit.]
thers themselves," as quoted by Bram-
XXX APPENDIX.
protestations (inserted in this book), " That no sucli book was ever
presented, nor such a speech made by Bishop Morton." [The
charge was brought by the Fathers (or by one of them, or of their
party) in the 2nd chapter of a book, entitled " A Treatise of the
nature of the Catholique Faith and of Heresy by N. N." (Rouen,
1657) ; to the remainder of the second chapter of which book the
greater part of Bramhall's Work is a reply, the story of the Nag's
Head Ordination being its principal argument1".]
II. Tome II., "Against the English Sectaries;" comprehends,
1. "A Fair Warning to take heed of the Scottish Discipline, as
being of all others most injurious to the Civil Magistrate, most op
pressive to the Subject, most pernicious to both."
[First published in 1649s, 4to., no place; but spoken of in a
"Review" of it by one Robert Baylie', as "published in Holland11 :"
and republished but not reprinted in 1661, at the Hague, with
Baylie's Review and a " Second Fair Warning in vindication of the
First," by Rich. Watson x, bound up under a common title-page.
Another edition, without either name or place, and with considerable
omissions and errors, appeared also in 1649^: and another, (an
exact reprint of the first mentioned2) was published between 1661
and 1663, and either in England or in Ireland a.]
2. " The Serpent Salve : or, A Remedy for the biting of an Aspe :
* [A Rejoinder to Bramhall's work, u [Bp. Bramhall had returned from
entitled " The Nullity of the Prelatique Ireland and was at Rotterdam in Oct.
Clergy and Church of England further 1648 : see above, p. x, note r.]
discovered, in answer to the plain pre- * [First published in 1651, Hague,
varication, &c., of D. John BramhaJl," 4to. He was chaplain to Lord Hop-
&c. &c. appeared in 1659 (Antw. 8vo.) ton.]
from the pen of the same N. N. The y [From the substitution in at least
Nag's Head Ordination was not a new one instance ("reglement" for "re-
subject to Bramhall ; he had treated of gulation") of a foreign for an English
it incidentally in his " Protestants' Or- word, this edition also would seem to have
clination Defended" (unpublished how- been printed abroad, and very possibly
ever at this time), Works, Part iv. Dis- without the author's knowledge, as he
course yii. pp. 1006, 1007. fol. edit. does not appear to have ever disavowed
— of which see below.] or concealed his authorship.]
• [That this was its first publication, z [The title-page and a table of con-
is fixed by the quotation in the book it- tents (taken from the headings of the
self (Works, p. 503. fol. edit.) of a ' So- chapters) excepted.]
lemn Acknowledgment, &c.' made by a [It is entitled " A Fair Warning for
the General Assembly of Scotland, Oct. England, to take heed of the Scottish
t>- 1648.] Discipline, &c. &c. Also the Sinful-
1 ["Review of Dr. Bramble" (sic), nesse and wickednesse of the Covenant,
" late Bp. of Londenderry, his Fair to introduce that Government upon the
Warning against the Scotes Disciplin, Church of England, by Dr. John Brum
by R. B. G." (Robert Baylie, minister hall" (sic), "Lord Archbishop of Ar-
at Glasgow, at the time, however, with magh and Primate, &c., now reprinted
Charles II. at the Hague.) Delph. 1649. for the good and benefit of all his Ma-
4to. The name is mispelt Bromwell in jesty's Subjects."]
the title-page of the book itself.]
APPENDIX. XXXI
Wherein the Observator's Grounds are discussed, &c." written
Dialogue-wise, and in vindication of King Charles I., [(in reply to
a tract by Henry Parker, entitled " Observations upon some of His
Majesty's late Answers and Expresses," published anonymously in
1642)] ; wherein the author endeavours to prove that 'power is not
originally inherent in, and derived from, the people, &c.' [It was
the first publication of Bp. Bramhall, and was] first printed in
1643b, [i. e. in the spring of 164f, whilst he was in Yorkshire with
the Marquis of Newcastle0.]
3. " Bishop Bramhall's Vindication of himself, and the Episcopal
Clergy, from the Presbyterian charge of Popery, as it is managed
by Mr. Baxter, in his treatise of the Grotian Religion." [first pub
lished under this title by Dr. Samuel Parker in 1672 (Lond. 8vo.),
nine years after the author's death, with a Preface, which excited a
great deal of controversy by its violence, " shewing what grounds
there are of Fears and Jealousies of Popery." It was written in
the latter end of 1659 or beginning of 1660, after the author had
been sixteen years in exile d, in answer to Baxter's " Treatise of the
Grotian Religion against Thos. Pierce" (1658. Lond.), wherein
Bramhall was accused by name of a design to bring in Popery ; and
is the last, a few sermons excepted, of his published writings.]
III. Tome III. Against Mr. Hobbes.
1. "A Defence of True Liberty, from antecedent and extrinsecal
Necessity. Being an answer to a late book of Mr. Thomas Hobbs
of Malmesbury, intitled, A Treatise of Liberty and Necessity."
[The controversy between Bramhall and Hobbes, which gave oc
casion to this and the following works, took its rise from a conver
sation, that passed between them at an accidental meeting, in 1645,
at the house of the Marquis of Newcastle in Paris. It appears from
the works themselves, that the Bishop subsequently committed his
thoughts upon the subject to writing, and transmitted his " discourse"
through the Marquis to Hobbes. This called forth an answer from
the latter in a letter addressed to the Marquis (dated Rouen, Aug.
b [Title-page; see also Vesey's Life, ment before;" and that he had " pro-
&c. p. 27.] fited more thereby than by any of the
f [Abp. Usher, in a letter to Bram- books he had read before touching that
hall dated Oxford 1644, speaks of hav- subject" (Dr. Vesey's Life, &c. p. 27).
ing " at length received his book to- Both the sermon and the book are like-
gether with his sermon" (viz. Serpent wise mentioned and discussed by Sir
Salve, and the sermon before the M. of G. Radcliffe in a letter to Bramhall,
Newcastle of Jan. 28. 164f .) ; adding dated Oxon 20. March 1643, thanking
that he "cannot sufficiently commend" him for the present of them (Rawd.
the author's " dexterity in clearing Papers, No. xxxvii).]
those points which have not been so ° [See his own words in ch. v. — •
satisfactorily handled by those who Works, p. 524. fol. edit.]
have taken pains in the same argu-
XXX11 APPENDIX.
20, 1645), to be communicated "only to my Lord Bishop;" to
which Bramhall replied in a second paper, not however until the
middle of the following year6, and privately as before. Here
the controversy rested for more than eight years, having been
hitherto carried on with perfect courtesy on both sides. In 1654,
however, a friend of Hobbes procured without his knowledge a
copy of his letter, and published it in London with Hobbes' name,
but with the erroneous date of 1652 for 1645 ; upon which Bram
hall, finding himself thus deceived, rejoined in the next year by the
publication of the " Defence, &c." (Lond. 1655. 8vo.) consisting of
his own original "discourse," of Hobbes' answer, and of his own reply,
printed sentence by sentence, with a dedication to the Marquis of
Newcastle, and an advertisement to the reader explaining the cir
cumstances under which it was published.]
2. " Castigations of Mr. Hobbes, his last Animadversions, in the
case concerning Liberty and universal Necessity [, wherein all his
exceptions about the controversie are fully satisfied]."
3. " The Catching of Leviathan, or the Great Whale ; Demon
strating, out of Mr. Hobs his own Works, that no man who is
thoroughly a Hobbist, can be a good Christian, or a good Com
monwealth's man, or reconcile himself to himself, because his Prin
ciples are not only destructive to all Religion, but to all Societies ;
extinguishing the Relation between Prince and Subject, Parent and
Child, Master and Servant, Husband and Wife : and abound with
palpable contradictions."
[These two works were printed in London, the first in 1657, the
second, as an appendix to it, in 1658; and as two parts of one
and the same volume. It would seem that Bramhall took ad
vantage of the " slowness of this edition" (it being printed in Lon
don while he was in Holland) to add to a part of the impression a
common title-page for the whole volume, an additional "Advertise
ment to the Reader" (dated March 11, 1658, new style), and a
table of errata ; as copies exist with these additions (from one of
which the folio edition was taken), which are in every other respect
identical with those, wherein these additions are wanting.
The occasion of the first of the two was, the publication by
Hobbes in 1656 of a reply to the " Defence," entitled " The Ques
tions concerning Liberty, Necessity, and Chance, clearly stated and
debated between Dr. Bramhall, Bp. of Derry, and Thomas Hobbes
of Malmesbury," in which the whole of the " Defence" had been
reprinted with Hobbes' own "Animadversions" upon it, head by
e [See the 1st page of the Defence.]
APPENDIX. XXX111
head : an example of " needless repetition," which Bramhall had
himself set, but did not now continue.
The second has no further connection with the dispute, than as
being provoked by it ; and as directed against another treatise of
the same adversary. Hobbes in this instance took his time to reply,
his answer not appearing until 1682 (Lond. 8vo.), nearly twenty
years after his opponent's death.]
IV. Tome IV. [Upon Miscellaneous Subjects,] contains,
1. " The Controversies about the Sabbath, and the Lord's Day;
with their respective obligations ; clearly, succinctly, and impartially,
stated, discussed, and determined."
[First published in the folio edition f, but written in the year 1658s
or thereabouts, in consequence of the controversy which arose about that
time in England between Dr. Bernard on the one side and Dr. Heylin
and Dr. Pierce on the other concerning some opinions of Abp. Usher,
and among the rest, his Judgment of the Sabbath and Observation of
the Lord's Day. A tract which Bramhall had not seen when he
wrote the earlier part of his book, but which he notices in its
conclusion, was published by Dean Bernard in 1657 and 1658 at
London, entitled, " The Judgment of the late Abp. of Armagh," &c.,
"1. Of the Extent of Christ's Death and Satisfaction, 2. of the Sabbath
and Observation of the Lord's Day, 3. of the Ordination in other
Reformed Churches," and noticing also rather sharply the substi
tution of the English for the Irish articles in the Convocation of
1634 at Dublin. The bulk of Dr. Bramhall's treatise is addressed
to a friend unnamed h, who had asked him for his opinion upon the
subject without specifying his reason for requiring it, that reason
apparently being the controversy above mentioned.]
2. " A Sermon preached in York Minster before his Excellency
the Marquis of Newcastle, being then ready to meet the Scotch
army, Jan. 28, 1643 [i. e. 164I.]1."
3. "A Sermon preached at Dublin, upon the twenty-third of
April 1661, being the day appointed for his Majestie's Coronation ;
f [General table of Contents to the dressed, according to Bp. Barlow's en-
folio edition.] dorsement, to Dean Bernard, might
g [From the date of publication of lead to the conjecture that he was the
Dean Bernard's book mentioned above person: but there is no other treatise
in the text. See Bramhall's Works, by Dean Bernard at all bearing upon
p. 934. fol. edit.] the subject, except the one mentioned
h [This friend had himself written a in the text ; and this (if it can be called
"treatise" upon the subject (Works, p. a "treatise" at all) was not seen by
907. fol. edit.) ; but there is no further Bramhall until he had written nearly
clue to his name. A fragment of a the whole of his book.]
letter by Bramhall (see Letters, No. * [See above, what is said of " Ser-
XI.) upon the same controversy, ad- pent-Salve."]
BRAMHALL. d
APPENDIX.
with two Speeches made in the House of Peers, the eleventh of
May, 1661, when the House of Commons presented their
Speaker."
4. "The right Way to Safety after Shipwrack : in a Sermon
preached to the Honourable House of Commons in St. Patrick's
Church, Dublin, June 16, 1661, at their solemn receiving of the
Blessed Sacrament."
[Both this and the last-mentioned sermons were first printed in
1661, upon their delivery, and the latter by request of the House
of Commons11.]
5. "A short Discourse to Sir Henry De Vic, about a passage at
his table, after the Christening of his Daughter, Anne Charlott ; of
Persons dying without Baptism1." ["Written while in exile,"
i. e. at Brussels between 1644 and 1648. This and the next
Paper were apparently printed for the first time in the folio
edition.]
6 "An Answer to two Papers brought him June the 19th, 1645,
about the Protestants' Ordination," &c. [written June 20th. in that
year at Brussels.]
7 " Protestants' Ordination Defended," &c. or " An Answer to
the twentieth Chapter of The Guide of Faith ; or, The third Part
of the Antidote of S. N. Doctor of Divinity™:" [written before
1654n, but apparently first published in the folio edition.]
He had, likewise, prepared a hundred sermons for the press, but
they [, with some memoirs he had written of his own life,] \vere
" torn by the rats before his death0." [A short discourse upon
Transubstantiation, written for the satisfaction of the English mer
chants at Antwerp during his first exile?, — a History of Hull, said
to have been published shortly before his quitting England in 1644%
reply to some objections made by a Jesuit against his Answer
k [The title-pages of both Sermons Wherein the Truth, and perpetual
by a singular mistake give the date Visible Succession, of the Catholique
1060: yet it appears by the same title- Roman Church, is clearly demon-
pages, that the Sermons were not strated, by S. N. Doctor of Divinity,
preached, nor the Speeches delivered, 4to., no place, 1621.]
until after March 1661.] n [It is mentioned by Bramhall in
i See above [in the Life itself, p. x.] his Just Vindication, c. ix. Works, p.
m [The full title of the work to which 134. fol. edit]
Bramhall replied, is as follows ;— "The ° [Life, &c. p. 29.]
Guide of Faith, or, A third Part of the p [Life, &c. p. 27 ; and see above,
Antidote against the Pestiferous writ- p. x.]
ings of all English Sectaries, and in q [Life, &c. p. 27 ; but the report
particular, against D. Bilson, D. Fulke, might allude, as Dr. Vesey suggests, to
D. Reynolds, D. Whitaker, D. Field, the latter part of Serpent- Salve, pub-
D. Sparkes, D. White, and M. Mason, lished at this time, which treats at length
the chief upholders, some of Protes- of Sir J. Hotham's treason at Hull,
tancy, and some of Puritanisme. See Works, pp. 581, &c. fol. edit]
APPENDIX. XXXV
to La Milletierer, — and a paper of objections against Hobbes' book
" De Cive3," — have been also lost.
Two treatises on the other hand have been attributed to him incor
rectly ; one, an " Apologia pro Rege et Populo Anglicano, Contra Jo-
Jiannis Polypragmatici (alias Miltoni Angli) Defensionem destructi-
vam Regis et Populi " (i. e. Milton's well-known " Defensio Populi
Anglicani"}, published in 1651, and supposed to be Bramhall's
by Milton, and his nephew Phillips (who answered it) ; the other
a treatise against the Presbyterians, entitled " The Countermine, or a
Short but True Discovery of the Dangerous Principles and Secret
Practices of the Presbyterians," &c. &c. published anonymously at
London in 1677. That the former was not Bramhall's has been
satisfactorily shewn by Archdeacon Todd4, from the " contemptible
and barbarous style" of the work, from the avowal of the authorship
by the real author u in a subsequent work, and from the express
denial of Bramhall himselfx. The latter is written in a style very
different from the nervous energy of Dr. Bramhall's ; and was really
the composition of Dr. John Nalson. Lastly, he is said^ (although
upon very slight grounds) to have assisted in the composition of two
other treatises against the Presbyterians by one John Corbet, once
a Presbyterian Minister at Bonyl, near Dumbarton, viz. "The
Ungirding of the Scottish Armour2," and " Lysimachus Nicanora;"
and alsob in that of a third, by Bp. Maxwell0 (attributed however
by some to the same John Corbet), entitled " The Burthen of Issa-
chard."]
[r Mentioned in the " Vindic. of Covenanters at Edinburgh, &c. &c., to
Episcop. Clergy," c. vi. "Works, p. 626. draw them to take up armes, against
fol. edit.] the Lord's Anointed, throughout the
s [Mentioned in the Preface to the whole kingdom of Scotland." Dublin,
"Defence of True Liberty," &c., Works, 4to. 1639. With Licence from the
p. 648. fol. edit] Primate Usher, and a Dedication to the
1 [Life of Milton, sectiii. pp. 133 — Lord Deputy, Wentworth.]
1 35. note.] a [" The Epistle Congratulatory of
u [An English clergyman, named Lysimachus Nicanor, of the Society of
John Rowland.] Jesu, to the Covenanters in Scotland,
* [In a letter to his Son, Letters wherein is Paralleled our Sweet Har-
No. IX.] mony and Correspondency in Divers
y [Life, &c. p. 24. The story is Materiall Points of Doctrine and Prac-
inverted by Mr. Baylie, in his Review tice." First printed anonymously, in
of Fair Warning, ch. i. p. 2. who accuses 1640, 4to.]
Bramhall of borrowing, in that treatise, b [Note by Baker, on Wood's Athen.
from Corbet' sLysimachusNicanor, and Oxon. by Bliss, vol. iii. p. 1265.]
Maxwell's Burthen of Issachar. Cor- c [First of Ross, in Scotland, then
bet, when compelled to fly to Ireland, of Killala and Tuam successively. He
upon his refusal to take the Covenant, was received by Bp. Bramhall in Ire-
was protected and patronised by Bram- land, when compelled to fly from Scot-
hall (Life, &c. p. 27.).] land, in 1639 (Life, &c. p. 24.).]
2 [" In answer to the Informations <* [" Or, The Tyrannical Power and
for Defensive Armes against the King's Practices of the Presbyterian Govern-
Majestie, which were drawn up by the ment in Scotland." Lond. 1046. 4to.]
XXXVi APPENDIX.
%* [Some additional remarks were appended to the Life of Bp.
Bramhall by Towers and Kippis, in their edition of the Biograph.
Britann. ; of which those worthy of notice are here added.
1. They observe, that "the conduct of Bp. Bramhall in the Irish
Convocation of 1634 e, doth not seem entitled to any very extrava
gant applause ;" that " it was his aim to have the Articles of the
Church of Ireland somewhat less Calvinistical," and that " in the
management of this affair he shewed great dexterity " It must
be remembered f, however, that, in the substitution of the English for
the Irish Articles by that Convocation (the former omitting, the latter
containing, the five Lambeth Articles), the change in itself was held
by loth parties to be sufficiently formal to allow both to regard its
accomplishment as in some sense a victory, — the Primate Usher
and his friends considering the Irish Articles uncondemned by the
act, although set aside, Bp. Bramhall and the Lord Deputy holding
them to be in effect abrogated &, but only or chiefly because set
aside. The Bishop's dexterity therefore can scarcely be supposed
or implied to have exceeded the bounds of honesty, because he
urged the adoption of the measure upon the ground of its being in
the main, and in itself, a merely formal change, — a ground, which the
opinion of the opposite party also warranted him in assuming, — while
he considered it all the time in its probable consequences to be real
and most important.
2. It is further remarked by the same writers, that " the story of
Bp. Bramhall's danger in Spainh is very extraordinary : for unless
he had done something relative to that kingdom, of which we have
no account, it seems scarcely conceivable that such measures should
be adopted for apprehending him." However, in the words of
Bp. Mant*, " his well-known character, his station in the Church, his
former connection with those of the highest authority in his own
country, and the influence of which he was probably still possessed,
may be sufficient to account for the hostility of" so "jealous and
watchful" a tribunal as the Inquisition, and leave Bp. Vesey's state
ment "unsuspected."
The object of the journey seems to have been, partly, " the pur
pose k of drawing a parallel between the Liturgy of the Church of
e [See above note I.] * [Ch. of Irel., ch. viii. pp. 595, 596.]
{ [See the circumstantial account of k [Bp. Vesey reports this fact, as
the matter in Mant, Ch. of Ireland, ch. from Bramhall's own declaration to Dr.
vii. § 5.1 Walker, Dr. Vesey's uncle ; and that
B [So Bp. Vesey (Life, &c. pp. 17, Bramhall entertained a design of the
18), and Bp. Taylor (Funer. Sermon), kind, appears from his "Serpent-Salve,"
and Bramhall himself (Discourse upon c. xii (p. 511. fol. edit.). Mant therefore
the Sabbath, pp. 936, 937, fol. edit.).] (as quoted in note i) had insufficient
h [See note P.] reason to doubt its truth.]
APPENDIX. XXXV11
England and the public forms of the Protestant Churches," and,
partly, the settlement of some pecuniary affairs1.
3. The writers above mentioned go on to remark, that " the matter
of reordinationm was a great difficulty in the last" (i. e. the seven
teenth) "century, with many non-conformist divines, who were other
wise disposed to have come over to the Church of England ;" that
" the Ecclesiastical Commissioners of 1689 proposed to admit of
some latitude in the affair ;" and that " Abp. Bramhall had furnished
them with a precedent for so doing, by the manner in which he had
received some Scotch Presbyters into the Church." The extent of
the latitude here hinted will be best seen by stating the instance
given of itn, viz. that, " in the orders" (i. e. letters of orders) " which
he gave to Mr. Edward Parkinson, the following words were
inserted : — ' Non annihilates priores ordines (si quos habuit) nee
invaliditatem eorundem determinantes, multo minus omnes ordines
sacros Ecclesiarum forinsecarum condemnantes, quos proprio Judici
relinquimus, sed solummodo supplentes quicquid prius defuit per
canones Ecclesice Anglicance requisitum, et providentes pad Ecclesice,
ut schismatis tollatur occasio, et conscientiis fidelium satisfiat, nee ulli
dubitent de ejus ordinatione, aut actus suos presbyteriales tanquam
invalidos aversentur. In cujus rei testimonium,' " fyc.
It is certainly " not a little remarkable" that a concession so
carefully guarded should have been elsewhere made the foundation of
a very serious and groundless misrepresentation. It has been however
asserted0, and upon the strength of the instance above given, that
" with regard to any Ministers who had received Presbyterian orders
during the confusion of the Great Rebellion, the method employed
by Archbishop Bramhall, was, not to cause them * to undergo
a new ordination, but to admit them into the Ministry of the Church
by a conditional ordination, as we do in the Baptism of those of
whom it is uncertain whether they are baptized or not.' But this
assertion is not supported by the statement of Bp. Vesey" upon the
subject, " and the document alleged by him : on the contrary it is
directly opposed to both. For they give us to understand that the
Archbishop did ' ordain' the persons in question, ' as the law of this
Church requireth ;' therefore not conditionally, for the law of this
Church recognises no conditional ordination : but that subsequently
he introduced into his * letters' of orders an explanatory remark.
1 [See Letters, No. VIII.] Church of England, Introd. p. 112 —
m [See above, note R.] quoted by Mant, Ch. of Irel., ch. ix.
n From Birch's Life of Tillotson, p. § 1. p. 625, from whom the rest of this
176. [See also Vesey's Life,&c.p. 36.] paragraph is taken.]
0 [By Nichols, in his Defence of the
XXXV111
APPENDIX.
The historian seems to identify the form of ordination with the
subsequent letters of orders or certificate. But, whatever be the
cause, the error is manifest ; and it requires correction, both that the
character of such a man as Primate Bramhall may be vindicated
from the allegation, and even from the suspicion, of illegally devia
ting from the prescript forms of the Church, whereas he acted pro
fessedly and strictly ' as the law of the Church require th ;' and that
the principles and provisions of the Church herself may not be mis
apprehended in a matter of such infinite importance P."
4. The writers above mentioned conclude with quoting Mr.
Granger's ^ observation, that " Dr. Bramhall was one of the most
able, learned, and active Prelates of the age in which he lived, an
acute disputant, and an excellent preacher."
p [Bramhall's conduct in a somewhat
parallel case to the one to which the
above observations relate, may serve to
strengthen their force : for it appears
expressly that he did on one occasion
reordain, although, it is true, at the
person's own request, one who had
originally received only Presbyterian
orders (Life, &c. p. 34.).]
* Biographical Hist. [vol. V. p. 194.
4to. edit.]
A SERMON
PREACHED IN
CHRIST'S CHURCH, DUBLIN,
JULY 1G, 16G3 ;
AT THE FUNERAL OF
THE MOST REVEREND FATHER IN GOD,
JOHN
LATE LORD ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH, AND PRIMATE OF ALL IRELAND.
BY THE RIGHT REVEREND
JEREMY TAYLOR, D.D.
LORD BISHOP OF DOWN, CONNOR, AND DROMORE.
[Vol. vi. pp. 409, sq. of Taylor's Works, ed. Heber. — being the Vllth Sermon of
the AfKas 'EnPo\i/J.cuos, or Supplement to the 'Efiauros.]
A FUNERAL SERMON.
1 COR. xv. 23.
But every man in his own order : Christ the first-fruits ;
afterward they that are Christ's at His coming.
THE condition of man, in this world, is so limited and
depressed, so relative and imperfect, that the best things he
does, he does weakly, — and the best things he hath, are im
perfections in their very constitution. I need not tell how
little it is that we know : the greatest indication of this is
that we can never tell how many things we know not ; and
we may soon span our own knowledge, but our ignorance we
can never fathom. Our very will, in which mankind pre
tends to be most noble and imperial, is a direct state of im
perfection ; and our very liberty of choosing good and evil is
permitted to us, not to make us proud, but to make us
humble ; for it supposes weakness of reason and weakness of
love. For if we understood all the degrees of amability in
the service of God, or if we had such love to God as He de
serves, and so perfect a conviction as were fit for His ser
vices, we could no more deliberate : for liberty of will is like
the motion of a magnetic needle toward the north, full of
trembling and uncertainty till it were fixed in the beloved
point ; it wavers as long as it is free, and is at rest when it
can choose no more. And truly what is the hope of man?
It is indeed the resurrection of the soul in this world from
sorrow and her saddest pressures, and like the twilight to the
day, and the harbinger of joy ; but still it is but a conjuga
tion of infirmities, and proclaims our present calamity ; only
because it is uneasy here, it thrusts us forward toward the
light and glories of the resurrection.
xlii A SERMON PREACHED AT THE
For as a worm creeping with her belly on the ground, with
her portion and share of Adam's curse, lifts up its head to
partake a little of the blessings of the air, and opens the
junctures of her imperfect body, and curls her little rings
into knots and combinations, drawing up her tail to a
neighbourhood of the head's pleasure and motion ; but still
it must return to abide the fate of its own nature, and
dwell and sleep upon the dust : so are the hopes of a mortal
man ; he opens his eyes, and looks upon fine things at dis
tance, and shuts them again with weakness, because they are
too glorious to behold ; and the man rejoices because he
hopes fine things are staying for him ; but his heart aches,
because he knows there are a thousand ways to fail and miss
of those glories ; and though he hopes, yet he enjoys not ; he
longs, but he possesses not, and must be content with his
[Ps. xxii. portion of dust ; and being " a worm, and no man/' must
lie down in this portion, before he can receive the end of his
hopes, the salvation of his soul in the resurrection of the
dead. For as death is the end of our lives, so is the resur-
[i Cor. xv. rection the end of our hopes ; and as we " die daily," so we
daily hope : but death, which is the end of our life, is the
enlargement of our spirits from hope to certainty, from un
certain fears to certain expectations, from the death of the
body to the life of the soul ; that is, to partake of the light
and life of Christ, to rise to life as He did ; for His resurrec
tion is the beginning of ours : He died for us alone, not for
Himself; but He rose again for Himself and us too. So
that if He did rise, so shall we; the resurrection shall be
universal ; good and bad, all shall rise, but not altogether :
' first Christ, then we that are Christ's ;' and yet there is a
third resurrection, though not spoken of here ; but thus it
\\ Thess. shall be. " The dead of Christ shall rise first;" that is,
next to Christ ; and after them, the wicked shall rise to con
demnation.
So that you see here is the sum of affairs treated of in my
text : not whether it be lawful to eat a tortoise or a mush
room, or to tread with the foot bare upon the ground within
the octaves of Easter. It is not here inquired, whether
angels be material or immaterial ; or whether the dwellings
of dead infants be within the air or in the regions of the
FUNERAL OF THE LORD PRIMATE. xliii
earth ? the inquiry here is, whether we are to be Christians
or no ? whether we are to live good lives or no ? or whether
it he permitted to us to live with lust or covetousness, acted
with all the daughters of rapine and ambition? whether
there be any such thing as sin, any judicatory for con
sciences, any rewards of piety, any difference of good and
bad, any rewards after this life ? This is the design of these
words by proper interpretation : for if men shall die like
dogs and sheep, they will certainly live like wolves and
foxes ; but he that believes the article of the resurrection,
hath entertained the greatest demonstration in the world,
that nothing can make us happy but the knowledge of God,
and conformity to the life and death of the Holy Jesus.
Here, therefore, are the great hinges of all religion : 1.
Christ is already risen from the dead. 2. We also shall rise
in God's time and our order. " Christ is the first-fruits."
But there shall be a full harvest of the resurrection, and all
shall rise. My text speaks only of the resurrection of the
just, of them that belong to Christ; explicitly, I say, of
these ; and, therefore, directly of resurrection to life eternal.
But because he also says there shall be an order for every
man ; and yet every man does not belong to Christ ; there
fore, indirectly also, he implies the more universal resurrec
tion unto judgment : but this shall be the last thing that
shall be done; for, according to the proverb of the Jews,
Michael flies but with one wing, and Gabriel with two : God
is quick in sending angels of peace, and they fly apace ; but
the messengers of wrath come slowly : God is more hasty to
glorify His servants than to condemn the wicked. And,
therefore, in the story of Dives and Lazarus, we find that the [Luke
beggar died first; the good man, Lazarus, was first taken22'-'
away from his misery to his comfort, and afterwards the rich
man died ; and as the good, many times, die first, so all of
them rise first, as if it were a matter of haste : and as the
mother's breasts swell, and shoot, and long to give food to
her babe, so God's bowels did yearn over His banished
children, and He longs to cause them to eat and drink in
His kingdom. And at last the wicked shall rise unto con
demnation, for that must be done too ; every man in his
own order : first Christ, then Christ's servants, and, at last,
A SERMON PREACHED AT THE
Christ's enemies. The first of these is the great ground of
our faith ; the second is the consummation of all our hopes :
the first is the foundation of God, that stands sure ; the
second is that superstructure that shall never perish : by the
first we believe in God unto righteousness ; by the second
we live in God unto salvation : but the third, for that also is
true, and must be considered, is the great affrightment of all
them that live ungodly. But in the whole, Christ' s resur-
[Rev. i. 8. rection and ours is " the A and fl " of a Christian ; that as
riieb xiii " ^esus Christ is the same yesterday, and to-day, and the
s.] same for ever," so may we in Christ become the morrow of
the resurrection, the same or better than yesterday in our
natural life ; the same body and the same soul, tied to
gether in the same essential union, with this only difference,
that not nature, but grace and glory, with an hermetic seal,
give us a new signature, whereby we shall no more be
changed, but, like unto Christ our Head, we shall become
the same for ever. Of these I shall discourse in order.
1. That Christ, who is "the first fruits," is the first in this
order : He is already risen from the dead. 2. "We shall all
take our turns, we shall die, and, as sure as death, we shall
all rise again. And, 3. This very order is effective of the
thing itself. That Christ is first risen, is the demonstration
and certainty of ours ; for because there is an order in this
economy, the first in the kind is the measure of the rest. If
Christ ]pe the first fruits, we are the whole vintage ; and we
shall all die in the order of nature, and shall rise again" in
the order of Christ : " they that are Christ's," and are found
so " at His coming," shall partake of His resurrection. But
Christ first, then they that are Christ's : that is the order.
I. Christ is the first fruits ; He is already risen from the
[Acts ii. dead : for He alone ' could not be held by death/ " Free
|p^ among the dead."
lxxxviii.5.]
Synes " &pi£fv ere yepav rdre
gym-.?- " A*8as 6
Petavn,
p. 347. " Kai \ao[36pos
Death was sin's eldest daughter, and the grave clothes
were her first mantle ; but Christ was Conqueror over both,
FUNERAL OF THE LORD PRIMATE. xv
and came to take that away, and to disarm this. This was a
glory fit for the Head of mankind, but it was too great and
too good to be easily believed by incredulous and weak-
hearted man. It was at first doubted by all that were con
cerned ; but they that saw it, had no reason to doubt any
longer. But what is that to us, who saw it not ? Yes, very
much : " Valde dubitatum est ab illis, ne dubitaretur a
nobis," saith St. Austin ; " They doubted very much, that,
by their confirmation, we might be established, and doubt no
more." Mary Magdalene saw Him first, and she ran with [Markxvi.
joy, and said " She had seen the Lord," and that He was John xx.
risen from the dead ; but they "believed her not •" — after that, K
divers women together saw Him, and they told it, but had C^t. ^
no thanks for their pains, and obtained no credit among the Luke xxiv.
disciples : the two disciples that went to Einmaus, saw Him, rLuke
talked with Him, ate with Him, and they ran and told it : |*^- 13'
they told true, but nobody believed them : then St. Peter [Luke
saw Him, but he was not yet got into the chair of the * coi-.tr.
Catholic Church, they did not think him infallible, and so 5-l
they believed him not at all. Five times in one day He
appeared; for after all this, He appeared to the eleven; they tLPyke ,
were indeed transported with joy and wonder; but they &c.]
would scarce believe their own eyes, and though they saw
Him, they doubted. Well, all this was not enough; He was I1 Cor xv.
seen also of James, and suffered Thomas to thrust his hand [John xx,
into His side, and appeared to St. Paul, and was seen by [Acts ix.
" five hundred brethren at once." So that there is no ca- f~^^Y xv
pacity of mankind, no time, no place, but had an ocular 6.]
demonstration of His resurrection. He appeared to men and
women, to the clergy and the laity, to sinners of both sexes ;
to weak men and to criminals, to doubters and deniers at
home and abroad, in public and in private, in their houses
and their journeys, unexpected and by appointment, betimes
in the morning and late at night, to them in conjunction
and to them in dispersion, when they did look for Him and
when they did not ; He appeared upon earth to many, and
to St. Paul and St. Stephen from Heaven : so that we can [Acts vii. '
require no greater testimony than all these are able to give
us; and they saw for themselves and for us too, that the
faith and certainty of the resurrection of Jesus might be
A SERMON PREACHED AT THE
conveyed to all that shall die, and follow Christ in their own
order.
Now this being matter of fact, cannot be supposed infinite,
but limited to time and place, and, therefore, to be proved
by them who, at that time, were upon the place ; good men
and true, simple, and yet losers by the bargain, many and
united, confident and constant, preaching it all their life,
and stoutly maintaining it at their death; men that would
not deceive others, and men that could not be deceived them
selves, in a matter so notorious, and so proved, and so seen :
and if this be not sufficient credibility in a matter of fact, as
this was, then we can have no story credibly transmitted to
us, no records kept, no acts of courts, no narratives of the
days of old, no traditions of our fathers, no memorials of
them in the third generation. Nay, if from these we have
not sufficient causes and arguments of faith, how shall we be
able to know the will of Heaven upon earth ? unless God do
not only tell it once, but always, and not only always to
some men, but always to all men : for if some men must be
lieve others, they can never do it in any thing more rea
sonably than in this ; and if we may not trust them in this,
then, without a perpetual miracle, no man could have faith :
for faith could never come by hearing, by nothing but by
seeing. But if there be any use of history, any faith in men,
any honesty in manners, any truth in human intercourse ; if
there be any use of apostles or teachers, of ambassadors or
letters, of ears or hearing ; if there be any such thing as the
grace of faith, that is less than demonstration or intuition;
then we may be as sure that Christ, the first fruits, is already
risen, as all these credibilities can make us. But let us
take heed ; as God hates a lie, so He hates incredulity ; an
obstinate, a foolish, and pertinacious understanding. What
we do every minute of our lives, in matters of title and
great concernment, if we refuse to do it in religion, which
yet is to be conducted, as all human affairs are, by human
instruments, and arguments of persuasion proper to the
nature of the thing, it is an obstinacy as cross to human
reason, as it is to Divine faith.
But this article was so clearly proved, that presently it
came to pass that men were no longer ashamed of the cross,
FUNERAL OF THE LORD PRIMATE.
but it was worn upon breasts, printed in the air, drawn upon
foreheads, carried upon banners, put upon crowns imperial ;
presently it came to pass that the religion of the despised
Jesus did infinitely prevail ; a religion that taught men to be
meek and humble, apt to receive injuries, but unapt to do
any; a religion that gave countenance to the poor and
pitiful, in a time when riches were adored, and ambition and
pleasure had possessed the heart of all mankind ; a religion
that would change the face of things, and the hearts of men,
and break vile habits into gentleness and counsel ; that such
a religion, in such a time, by the sermons and conduct of
fishermen, men of mean breeding and illiberal arts, should so
speedily triumph over the philosophy of the world, and the
arguments of the subtle, and the sermons of the eloquent ;
the power of princes and the interests of states, the inclina
tions of nature and the blindness of zeal, the force of custom
and the solicitation of passions, the pleasures of sin and the
busy arts of the devil ; that is, against wit and power, super
stition and wilfulness, fame and money, nature and empire,
which are all the causes in this world that can make a thing
impossible ; this, this is to be ascribed to the power of God,
and is the great demonstration of the resurrection of Jesus.
Every thing was an argument for it, and improved it; no
objection could hinder it, no enemies destroy it; whatsoever
was for them, it made the religion to increase ; whatsoever
was against them, made it to increase ; sunshine and storms,
fair weather or foul, it was all one as to the event of things :
for they were instruments in the hands of God, who could
make what Himself should choose to be the product of any
cause ; so that if the Christians had peace, they went abroad
and brought in converts : if they had no peace but perse
cution, the converts came in to them. In prosperity, they
allured and enticed the world by the beauty of holiness ; in
affliction and trouble, they amazed all men with the splendour
of their innocence, and the glories of their patience ; and
quickly it was that the world became disciple to the glorious
Nazarene, and men could no longer doubt of the resurrection
of Jesus, when it became so demonstrated by the certainty of
them that saw it, and the courage of them that died for it,
and the multitude of them that believed it ; who, by their
A SERMON PREACHED AT THE
sermons and their actions, by their public offices and dis
courses, by festivals and eucharists, by arguments of expe
rience and sense, by reason and religion, by persuading
rational men, and establishing believing Christians, by their
living in the obedience of Jesus, and dying for the testimony
of Jesus, have greatly advanced His kingdom, and His power,
and His glory, into which He entered after His resurrection
from the dead. For He is the First Fruits ; and if we hope
to rise through Him, we must confess that Himself is first
risen from the dead. That is the first particular.
2. There is an order for us also : we also shall rise again :
" Combustusque senex tumulo procedit adultus ;
" Consumens dat membra rogus ; "
The ashes of old Camillus shall stand up spritely from his
urn; and the funeral fires shall produce a new warmth to
the dead bones of all those, who died under the arms of all
the enemies of the Roman greatness. This is a less wonder
than the former ; for " admonetur omnis aetas jam fieri posse
quod aliquando factum est" If it was done once, it may
be done again : for since it could never have been done but
by a Power that is infinite, that infinite must also be eternal
and indeficient. By the same almighty Power, which re
stored life to the dead Body of our living Lord, we may
all be restored to a new life in the resurrection of the
dead.
When man was not, what power, what causes made him to
be ? Whatsoever it was, it did then as great a work as to
raise his body to the same being again; and because we
know not the method of nature's secret changes, and how
[Ps. we can be fashioned beneath ' in secreto terras/ and cannot
cxxxix. }ianclie and discern the possibilities and seminal powers in
the ashes of dissolved bones, must our ignorance in philo
sophy be put in balance against the articles of religion, the
hopes of mankind, the faith of nations, and the truth of
God? And are our opinions of the power of God so low,
that our understanding must be His measure ; and He shall
be confessed to do nothing, unless it be made plain in our
philosophy ? Certainly we have a low opinion of God, un
less we believe He can do more things than we can under-
FUNERAL OF THE LORD PRIMATE. xllX
stand : but let us hear St. Paul's demonstration ; if tlie [1 Cor. xv.
corn dies and lives again ; if it lays its body down, suffers
alteration, dissolution, and death, — but, at the spring, rises
again in the verdure of a leaf, in the fulness of the ear, in
the kidneys of wheat ; if it proceeds from little to great, from
nakedness to ornament, from emptiness to plenty, from
unity to multitude, from death to life : be a Sadducee no
more, shame not thy understanding, and reproach not the
weakness of thy faith, by thinking that corn can be restored
to life, and man cannot ; especially since, in every creature,
the obediential capacity is infinite, and cannot admit de
grees ; for every creature can be any thing under the power
of God, which cannot be less than infinite.
But we find no obscure footsteps of this mystery even
amongst the heathens : Pliny reports that Apion, the gram- [Nat, Hist,
marian, by the use of the plant osiris, called Homer from xxx> 6'
his grave; and in Valerius Maximus we find that (Elius [piin.,N.it.
Tubero returned to life, when he was seated in his funeral 50.] '
pile; and in Plutarch, that Soleus, after three days' burial,
did live ; and in Valerius, that Eris Pamphylius did so after Lib. i.
ten days. And it was so commonly believed, that Glaucus, fr'ec'ht,
who was choked in a vessel of honey, did rise again, that it l>> 7L
grew to a proverb : " Glaucus, poto melle, surrexit •" " Glau
cus, having tasted honey, died and lived again/' I pretend
not to believe these stories to be true; but from these in
stances it may be concluded, that they believed it possible
that there should be a resurrection from the dead; and
natural reason, and their philosophy, did not wholly destroy
their hopes and expectation to have a portion in this article.
For God, knowing that the great hopes of man, that the
biggest endearment of religion, the sanction of private justice,
the band of piety and holy courage, — does wholly derive from
the article of the resurrection, — was pleased not only to make
it credible, but easy and familiar to us ; and we so converse
every night with the image of death, that every morning we
find an argument of the resurrection. Sleep and death have
but one mother, and they have one name in common.
" Soles occiclere et redire possunt ; Catull. v,
" Nobis cum semel occidit brevis lux,
" Nox est perpetua una dormienda."
BRAMHALL. C
1 A SERMON PREACHED AT THE
Charnel houses are but Koi/ji'rjTijpia, ' cemeteries' or sleep
ing places; and they that die, are fallen asleep, and the
resurrection is but an awakening and standing up from
sleep : but in sleep our senses are as fast bound by nature,
as our joints are by the grave-clothes ; and unless an angel
of God waken us every morning, we must confess ourselves
as unable to converse with men, as we now are afraid to die
and to converse with spirits. But, however, death itself is no
more ; it is but darkness and a shadow, a rest and a for get -
fulness. What is there more in death? What is there less
in sleep ? For do we not see by experience that nothing of
equal loudness does awaken us sooner than a man's voice,
especially if he be called by name ? And thus also it shall
be in the resurrection : wre shall be awakened by the voice of
a man, and He that called Lazarus by name from his grave,
[i Cor. xv. shall also call us : for although St. Paul affirms, "that the
52 ]
[i Thess. trumpet shall sound/' and there shall be <c the voice of an arch-
iv. 16.] angel;" yet this is not a word of nature, but of office and
ministry: Christ Himself is that archangel, and He shall
i Thess. iv. " descend with a mighty shout," saith the Apostle ; " and all
John v. 28. that are in the grave shall hear His voice," saith St. John :
so that we shall be awakened by the voice of man, because
we are only fallen asleep by the decree of God ; and when
the cock and the lark call us up to prayer and labour, the
first thing we see is an argument of our resurrection from
the dead. And when we consider what the Greek Church
reports, — that amongst them the bodies of those that die
excommunicate, will not return to dust till the censure be
taken off, — we may, with a little faith and reason, believe,
that the same power that keeps them from their natural
dissolution, can recall them to life and union. I will not now
insist upon the story of the rising bones seen every year in
Egypt, nor the pretences of the chemists, that they, from the
ashes of flowers, can reproduce, from the same materials, the
same beauties in coloiir and figure ; for he that proves a
certain truth from an uncertain argument, is like him that
wears a wooden leg, when he hath two sound legs already ; it
hinders his going, but helps him not : the truth of God stands
not in need of such supporters ; nature alone is a sufficient
preacher :
FUNERAL OF THE LORD PRIMATE. 11
" Quse nunc herba fuit, lignum jacet, herba futura, Dracontius
" Aeriae nudantur aves cum penna vetusta, ^e Opera
" Et nova subvestit reparatas pluma volucres."
Night and day; the sun returning to the same point of
east ; every change of species in the same matter ; generation
and corruption; the eagle renewing her youth, and the
snake her skin ; the silk-worm and the swallows ; the care of
posterity, and the care of an immortal name ; winter and
summer; the fall and spring; the Old Testament and the
New; the words of Job ; and the visions of the prophets ; the [Job xix.
prayer of Ezekiel for the resurrection of the men of Ephraim ; [Ezek.
and the return of Jonas from the whale's belly ; the histories xxxvn- 1
of the Jews and the narratives of Christians; the faith of
believers and the philosophy of the reasonable ; — all join in
the verification of this mystery. And amongst these heaps,
it is not of the least consideration, that there was never any
good man, who having been taught this article, but if he
served God, he also relied upon this. If he believed God, he
believed this ; and therefore St. Paul says, that they who wrere
"eX-TTiSa fjwj exovres," were also " aOeoi ev Koa^a" 'they who [Ephcs. ii.
had no hope' (meaning of the resurrection) ' were also athe- l~
ists, and without God in the world/ — And it is remarkable
what St. Austin observes, that when the world saw the
righteous Abel destroyed, and that the murderer outlived his
crime, and built up a numerous family, and grew mighty
upon earth, — they neglected the service of God upon that
account, till God, in pity of their prejudice and foolish argu-
ings, took Enoch up to Heaven to recover them from their
impieties, by shewing them that their bodies and souls should
be rewarded for ever in an eternal union. But Christ, the
first fruits, is gone before, and Himself did promise, that
when Himself was lifted up, He would draw all men after
Him : " Every man in his own order : first Christ, then they
that are Christ's at His coming." — And so I have done with
the second particular ; not Christ only, but we also shall rise
in God's time and our order.
But concerning this order I must speak a word or two, not
only for the fuller handling the text, but because it will be
matter of application of what hath been already spoken of the
article of the resurrection.
Hi A SERMON PREACHED AT THE
3. First Christ, and then we : and we, therefore, because
Christ is already risen : but you must remember, that the
resurrection and exaltation of Christ was the reward of His
perfect obedience and purest holiness ; and He calling us to
an imitation of the same obedience, and the same perfect holi
ness, prepares a way for us to the same resurrection. If we, by
holiness, become the sons of God, as Christ was, we shall also,
as He was, become the sons of God in the resurrection : but
upon no other terms. So said our blessed Lord Himself:
Matt. xix. « Ye which have followed Me in the regeneration, when the
Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His glory, ye also shall
sit upon thrones judging the tribes of Israel." For as it was
with Christ the First Fruits, so it shall be with all Christians
in their own order : as with the Head, so it shall be with, the
members. He was the Son of God by love and obedience,
and then became the Son of God by resurrection from the
dead to life eternal, and so shall we ; but we cannot be so in
any other way. To them that are Christ's, and to none else
shall this be given : for we must know that God hath sent
Christ into the world to be a great example and demonstra
tion of the economy and dispensation of eternal life. As God
brought Christ to glory, so He will bring us, but by no other
method. He first obeyed the will of God, and patiently
suffered the will of God ; He died and rose again, and entered
into glory ; and so must we. Thus Christ is made " Via,
Veritas, et Vita/' "the Way, the Truth, and the Life ;" that is,
the true way to eternal life : He first trod this wine-press, and
we must insist in the same steps, or we shall never partake of
this blessed resurrection. He was made the Son of God in
a most glorious manner, and we by Him, by His merit, and
by His grace, and by His example ; but other than this there
is no wray of salvation for us : that is the first and great effect
of this glorious order.
4. But there is one thing more in it yet : " Every man in
Ms own order ; first Christ, and then they that are Christ's :"
'but what shall become of them that are not Christ's ? Why
there is an order for them too : first, " they that are Christ's ;
and then they that are not His :" " Blessed and holy is he
Rev. xx. 6. that hath his part in the first resurrection :" there is a first
and a second resurrection even after this life ; " The dead in
FUNERAL OF THE LORD PRIMATE. HH
Christ shall rise first :" now blessed are they that have their 1 Thess. iv.
portion here ; " for upon these the second death shall have
no power." As for the recalling the wicked from their
graves, it is no otherwise in the sense of the Spirit to be
called a resurrection, than taking a criminal from the prison
to the bar, is a giving of liberty. When poor Acilius Aviola
had been seized on by an apoplexy, his friends, supposing piin. vii.
him dead, carried him to his funeral pile; but when the fire Max.Tfs?r
began to approach, and the heat to warm the body, he 12^
revived, and seeing himself encircled with funeral flames,
called out aloud to his friends to rescue, not the dead, but
the living Aviola from that horrid burning : but it could not
be, he only was restored from his sickness to fall into death,
and from his dull disease to a sharp and intolerable torment.
Just so shall the wicked live again ; they shall receive their
souls, that they may be a portion for devils ; they shall
receive their bodies, that they may feel the everlasting burn
ing ; they shall see Christ, that they may ' look on Him [Zech. xii.
whom they have pierced ;' and they shall hear the voice of
God passing upon them the intolerable sentence ; they shall
come from their graves, that they may go into hell ; and live
again, that they may die for ever. So have we seen a poor
condemned criminal, the weight of whose sorrows sitting
heavily upon his soul hath benumbed him into a deep sleep,
till he hath forgotten his groans, and laid aside his deep
sighings; but, on a sudden, comes the messenger of death,
and unbinds the poppy garland, scatters the heavy cloud that
encircled his miserable head, and makes him return to acts
of life, that he may quickly descend into death and be no
more. So is every sinner that lies down in shame, and
' makes his grave with the wicked ' ; he shall indeed rise [isai. liii.
again, and be called upon by the voice of the archangel ; 9'
but then he shall descend into sorrows greater than the
reason and the patience of a man, weeping and shrieking
louder than the groans of the miserable children in the valley
of Hinnom.
These, indeed, are sad stories, but true as the voice of
God, and the sermons of the Holy Jesus. They are God's
words, and God's decrees ; and I wish that all who profess
the belief of these, would consider sadly what they mean. If
A SERMON PREACHED AT THE
[Nov0eT.
"7 '99°! V
Gaisford,
ye believe the article of the resurrection, then you know, that,
in your body, you shall receive what you did in the body,
whether it be good or bad. It matters not now very much,
whether our bodies be beauteous or deformed; for if we
glorify God in our bodies, God shall make our bodies glori
ous. It matters not much whether we live in ease and plea
sure, or eat nothing but bitter herbs ; the body that lies in
dust and ashes, that goes stooping and feeble, that lodges at
the foot of the cross, and dwells in discipline, shall be feasted
at the eternal supper of the Lamb. And ever remember this,
that beastly pleasures, and lying lips, and a deceitful tongue,
and a heart that sendeth forth proud things, are no good
dispositions to a blessed resurrection.
" Ov Ka\ov d
* It is not for good, that in the body we live a life of dissolu
tion, for that is no good harmony with that purpose of glory
which God designs the body ;'
yaii]s e\7ri£opev e$ (f)dos
deol re
" Kat
said Phocylides ; " for we hope that from our beds of dark-
ness we sna^ r*se *nto regi°ns °f light, an(l shall become like
unto God :" they shall partake of a resurrection to life; and
what this can infer is very obvious : for if it be so hard
to believe a resurrection from one death, let us not be dead in
trespasses and sins ; for a resurrection from two deaths will
be harder to be believed, and harder to be effected. But if
any of you have lost the life of grace, and so forfeited all your
title to a life of glory, betake yourselves to an early and
an entire piety, that when, by this first resurrection, you
have made this way plain before your face, you may with
confidence expect a happy resurrection from your graves :
for if it be possible that the spirit, when it is dead in sin, can
arise to a life of righteousness ; much more it is easy to sup
pose that the body, after death, is capable of being restored
again : and this is a consequent of St. Paul's argument :
Rom v. 10. (i 1f> when ye were enemies, ye were reconciled by His death,
much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life ;"
plainly declaring, that it is a harder and more wonderful
FUNERAL OF THE LORD PRIMATE. Iv
thing for a wicked man to become the friend of God, than for
one that is so, to be carried up to Heaven and partake of
His glory. The first resurrection is certainly the greater
miracle : but he that hath risen once, may rise again ; and
this is as sure as that he that dies once, may die again, and
die for ever. But he who partakes of the death of Christ by
mortification, and of His resurrection by holiness of life and a
holy faith, shall, according to the expression of the Prophet
Isaiah, "Enter into his chamber of death;" when nature and Jsai. xxvi.
God's decree e< shall shut the doors upon him," and there he
shall be hidden for a little moment : but then shall they that
dwell in dust, awake and sing, with Christ's dead Body shall
they arise ; all shall rise, but " every man in his own order ;
Christ, the first fruits, then they that are Christ's at His
coming." Amen.
I have now done with my meditation of the resurrection ;
but we have had a new and a sadder subject to consider. It
is glorious and brave when a Christian contemplates those
glories, which stand at the foot of the account of all God's
servants ; but when we consider, that before all, or any
thing of this happens, every Christian must twice ( exuere
hominem/ ' put off the old man/ and then lie down in dust, [Ephes. iy.
and the dishonours of the grave ; it is ' vinum myrrhatum/ g/j
there is ' myrrh put into our wine :•' it is wholesome, but it
will allay all our pleasures of that glorious expectation : but
no man can escape it. After that the great Cyrus had ruled
long in a mighty empire, yet there came a message from
Heaven, not so sad it may be, yet as decretory as the hand
writing on the wall that arrested his successor Darius,
"2v cTKevd^ov, co Kvpe' r)S7j jap et? Oeovs wirei" "Prepare thyself, Cyrop.
O Cyrus, and then go unto the gods ;" he laid aside his tire Schneider
and his beauteous diadem, and covered his face with a cloth,
and in a single linen laid his honoured head in a poor
humble grave ; and none of us all can avoid this sentence :
for if wit and learning, great fame and great experience ; if
wise notices of things, and an honourable fortune ; if courage
and skill, if prelacy and an honourable age, if any thing that
could give greatness and immunity to a wise and prudent
man, could have been put in a bar against a sad day, and
have gone for good plea, this sad scene of sorrows had not
Ivi A SERMON PREACHED AT THE
been the entertainment of this assembly. But tell me,
Where are those great masters, who while they lived,
flourished in their studies? " Jam eorum prabendas alii
possident, et nescio utrwn de Us coyitant ;" "other men
have got their prebends and their dignities, and who knows
whether ever they remember them or no?" While they
lived, they seemed nothing ; when they are dead, every man
for awhile speaks of them what they please ; and afterwards
they are as if they had not been. But the piety of the
Christian Church hath made some little provision towards an
artificial immortality for brave and worthy persons ; and the
friendships which our dead contracted while they were
alive, require us to continue a fair memory as long as we
can ; but they expire in monthly minds, or at most in a faint
and declining anniversary;
eVei </>iXos, OCTTIS CTaipov
" Mep,vr)TCU Krapevoio KCU a-^vvrai our er eovros
And we have great reason so to do in this present sad
accident of the death of our late most reverend Primate,
whose death the Church of Ireland hath very great reason to
deplore ; and we have great obligation to remember his very
many worthy deeds, done for this poor afflicted and despised
Church. St.Paul made an excellent funeral oration, as it were
Hebrews, instituting a feast of all saints, who all died " having obtained
a good report :" and that excellent preacher made a sermon
of their commemoration. For since good men, while they
are alive, have their conversation in Heaven ; when they are
in Heaven, it is also fit that they should, in their good
names, live upon earth. And as their great examples are an
excellent sermon to the living, and the praising them, when
envy and flattery can have no interest to interpose, as it is
the best and most vigorous sermon and incentive to great
things ; so to conceal what good God hath wrought by them
is great unthankfulness to God and to good men.
When Dorcas died, the Apostle came to see the dead
corpse, and the friends of the deceased expressed their grief
and their love, by shewing the coats that she, whilst she
lived, wrought with her own hands : she was a good needle-
FUNERAL OF THE LORI) PRIMATE.
woman and a good house-wife, and did good to mankind in
her little way, and that itself ought not to be forgotten ; and
the Apostle himself was not displeased with their little
sermons, and that eL»</>r;/ucr//,o9 which the women made upon
that sad interview. But if we may have the same liberty to
record the worthy things of this our most venerable father
and brother, and if there remains no more of that envy
Avhich usually obscures the splendour of living heroes ; if you
can with your charitable, though weeping eyes, behold the
great gifts of God with which He adorned this great prelate,
and not object the failings of humanity to the participation
of the graces of the Spirit, or think that God's gifts are the
less because they are born in earthen vessels, " Travre? jap
K\vra Swpa Kepao-crdfjievoL (fropeovaw," for all men bear mortal
ity about them, and the cabinet is not so beauteous as the
diamond that shines within its bosom ; then we may, without
interruption, pay this duty to piety, and friendship, and
thankfulness ; and deplore our sad loss by telling a true and
sad story of this great man, whom God hath lately taken
from our eyes.
He was bred in Cambridge, in Sidney College, under
Mr. Hulet, a grave and worthy man; and he shewed him
self not only a fruitful plant by his great progress in his
studies, but made him another return of gratitude, taking care
to provide a good employment for him in Ireland, where he
then began to be greatly interested. It was spoken as an
honour to Augustus Caesar, that he gave his tutor an
honourable funeral ; and Marcus Antoninus erected a statue [Capitoii-
unto his ; and Gratian the emperor made his master Auso- rui]"
nius to be consul : and our worthy primate, knowing the G^tian'
obligation which they pass upon us, who do ' obstetricare gra- Gratiar.
mdcs, anima,' ' help the parturient soul' to bring forth fruits
according to its seminal powers, was careful not only to re
ward the industry of such persons, so useful to the Church
in the cultivating ' infantes palmarum,' ( young plants/
whose joints are to be stretched and made straight ; but to
demonstrate that his scholar knew how to value learning,
when he knew so well how to reward the teacher.
Having passed the course of his studies in the University,
and done his exercise with that applause which is usually the
A SERMON PREACHED AT THE
reward of pregnant wit and hard study, he was removed into
Yorkshire, where first, in the city of York, he was an assi
duous preacher ; but, by the disposition of the Divine Pro-
[Bram- vidence, he happened to be engaged at Northallerton in dis-
gonists " putation with three pragmatical Romish priests of the
numb™ in Jesuits' order, whom he so much worsted in the conference,
see hisfwn ^^ S0 snamefu% disadvantaged by the evidence of truth,
account of represented wisely and learnedly, that the famous primate of
vereyTs1™" York, Archbishop Matthews, a learned and an excellent
Sffe,in Prelate; and a m°st worthy preacher, hearing of that triumph,
above, note sent for him, and made him his chaplain ; in whose service
he continued till the death of the primate, but, in that time
had given so much testimony of his dexterity in the conduct
of ecclesiastical and civil affairs, that he grew dear to his
master. In that employment he was made prebendary of
York, and then of Rippon, the dean of which church having
made him his sub-dean, he managed the affairs of that
Church so well, that he soon acquired a greater fame, and
entered into the possession of many hearts, and admiration
to those many more that knew him. There and at his par
sonage he continued long to do the duty of a learned and
good preacher, and by his wisdom, eloquence, and deport
ment, so gained the affections of the nobility, gentry, and
commons of that country, that at his return thither upon the
blessed restoration of his most sacred majesty, he knew
himself obliged enough, and was so kind as to give them a
visit; so they, by their coming in great numbers to meet
him, their joyful reception of him, their great caressing of
him when he was there, their forward hopes to enjoy him as
their Bishop, their trouble at his departure, their unwilling
ness to let him go away, gave signal testimonies that they
were wise and kind enough to understand and value his
great worth.
But while he lived there, he was like a diamond in the
dust, or Lucius Quinctius at the plough; his low fortune
covered a most valuable person, till he became observed by
Sir Thomas Wentworth, Lord President of York, whom we
all knew for his great excellencies, and his great but glorious
misfortunes. This rare person espied the great abilities of
Doctor Bramhall, and made him his chaplain, and brought
FUNERAL OF THE LORD PRIMATE. x
him into Ireland, as one who, he believed, would prove the
most fit instrument to serve in that design, which, for two
years before his arrival here, he had greatly meditated and
resolved, the reformation of religion, and the reparation of
the broken fortunes of the Church. The complaints were
many, the abuses great, the causes of the Church vastly
numerous ; but as fast as they were brought in, so fast they
were by the Lord Deputy referred back to Dr. Bramhall,
who by his indefatigable pains, great sagacity, perpetual
watchfulness, daily and hourly consultations, reduced things
to a more tolerable condition, than they had been left in by
the schismatical principles of some, and the unjust prepos
sessions of others, for many years before : for at the refor
mation, the popish bishops and priests seemed to conform,
and did so, that keeping their bishopricks they might enrich
their kindred and dilapidate the revenues of the Church,
which by pretended offices, false informations, fee-farms at
contemptible rents, and ungodly alienations, were made low
as poverty itself, and unfit to minister to the needs of them
that served the altar, or the noblest purposes of religion : for
hospitality decayed, and the bishops were easy to be op
pressed by those that would ; and they complained, but for a
long time had no helper, till God raised up that glorious in
strument the Earl of Strafford, who brought over with him
as great affections to the Church and to all public interests,
and as admirable abilities, as ever before his time did invest
and adorn any of the king's vicegerents ; and God fitted his
hand with an instrument good as his skill was great : for the
first specimen of his abilities and diligence in the recovery of
some lost tithes, being represented to his late majesty, of
blessed and glorious memory, it pleased his majesty, upon
the death of Bishop Downham, to advance the doctor to the
bishoprick of Derry, which he not only adorned with an ex
cellent spirit and a wise government, but did more than
double the revenue, not by taking any thing from them to
whom it was due, but by resuming something of the
Church's patrimony, which by undue means was detained
in unfitting hands.
But his care was beyond his diocese, and his zeal broke
out to warm all his brethren ; and, though by reason of the
x A SERMON PREACHED AT THE
favour and piety of King James, the escheated counties
were well provided for their tithes, yet the bisliopricks were
not so well, till the primate, then bishop of Deny, by the
favour of the Lord Lieutenant and his own incessant and
assiduous labour and wise conduct, brought in divers impro-
priations, cancelled many unjust alienations, and did restore
them to a condition much more tolerable ; I say much more
tolerable; for though he raised them above contempt, yet
they were not near to envy ; but he knew there could not in
all times be wanting too many, that envied to the Church
every degree of prosperity : so Judas did to Christ the ex
pense of ointment ; and so Dionysius told the priest, when
himself stole the golden cloak from Apollo, and gave him one
of the Arcadian home-spun, that it was warmer for him in
winter and cooler in summer. And, for ever, since the
Church, by God's blessing and the favour of religious kings
and princes, and pious nobility, hath been endowed with fair
[Matt. xiv. revenues, ' inimicus homo,' ' the enemy ' hath not been
wanting, by pretences of religion, to take away God's portion
from the Church, as if His word were intended as an instru
ment to rob His houses. But when the Israelites were
governed by a Oeo/cparla, and ' God was their king,' and
Moses His lieutenant, and things were of His management,
—He was pleased, by making great provisions for them that
ministered in the service of the tabernacle, to consign this
truth for ever; — that men, as they love God, at the same
rate are to make provisions for His priests. For when Him
self did it, He not only gave the forty-eight cities, with a
mile of glebe round about their city every way, and yet the
whole country was but an hundred and forty miles long, or
thereabouts, from Dan to Beersheba; but beside this they
had the tithe of all increase, the first fruits, offerings, vows,
redemptions, and in short, they had twenty-four sorts of
dues, as Buxtorf relates ; and all this either brought to the
barn home to them without trouble, or else, as the nature of
the thing required, brought to the temple ; the first to make
it more profitable, and the second to declare that they
received it not from the people but from God, not the
people's kindness but the Lord's inheritance : insomuch that
this small tribe of Levi, which was not the fortieth part of
FUNERAL OF THE LOUD PRIMATE. 1x1
the people, as the Scripture computes them, had a revenue
almost treble to any of the largest of the tribes. I will not Numb. i.
insist on what Villalpandus observes, it may easily be read in ^f {dmj f*
the xlvth. of Ezekiel, concerning that portion which God of ithes.
reserves for Himself and His service ; but whatsoever it be, c'
this shall I say, that is confessedly a prophecy of the Gospel;
but this I add, that they had as little to do, and much less
than a Christian priest ; and yet in all the twenty-four See Phiio,
courses the poorest priest among them might be esteemed ^ ™,ua
a rich man. I speak not this to upbraid any man, or any Itpiw.
thing but sacrilege and murmur, nor to any other end but to
represent upon what great and religious grounds the then
Bishop of Derry did, with so much care and assiduous labour,
endeavour to restore the Church of Ireland to that splendour
and fulness ; which as it is much conducing to the honour of
God and of religion, God Himself being the judge, so it is
much more necessary for you than it is for us ; and so this
wise prelate rarely well understood it ; and having the same
advantage and blessing as we now have, a gracious king, and
a lieutenant, patron of religion and the Church, he improved
the ' deposita pietatis,' as Origen calls them, the ' gages of Tract. 25.
piety/ which the religion of the ancient princes and nobles of the^;Mat^
this kingdom had bountifully given to such a comfortable
competency, that though there be place left for present and
future piety to large itself, yet no man hath reason to
be discouraged in his duty ; insomuch that as I have heard
from a most worthy hand, that at his going into England he
gave account to the Archbishop of Canterbury of 30,000£. a
year, in the recovery of which he was greatly and principally
instrumental. But the goods of this world are called " waters " [Prov. ix.
by Solomon: " stolen waters are sweet," and they are too un
stable to be stopped : some of these waters did run back from
their proper channel, and return to another course than God
and the laws intended; yet his labours and pious counsels
were not the less acceptable to God and good men, and there
fore by a thankful and honourable recognition, the convoca
tion of the Church of Ireland has transmitted in record to
posterity their deep resentment of his singular services and
great abilities in this whole affair. And this honour will for
ever remain to that Bishop of Derry ; he had a Zerubbabel
Ixii A SERMON PREACHED AT THE
who repaired the temple and restored its beauty ; but he was
the Joshua,, the high priest, who under him ministered this
blessing to the congregations of the Lord.
But his care was not determined in the exterior part only,
and accessaries of religion; he was careful, and he was
prosperous in it, to reduce that divine and excellent service
of our Church to public and constant exercise, to unity and
devotion ; and to cause the articles of the Church of Eng
land to be accepted as the rule of public confessions and per-
[Gen.xi.1.] suasions here, that they and we might be ' populus unius
labii,' ' of one heart and one lip/ building up our hopes of
Heaven on a most holy faith ; and taking away that Shib
boleth which made this Church lisp too undecently, or
rather, in some little degree, to speak the speech of Ashdod,
and not the language of Canaan ; and the excellent and wise
pains he took in this particular no man can dehonestate or
reproach, but he that is not willing to confess, that the
Church of England is the best reformed Church in the world.
But when the brave Roman infantry, under the conduct of
Manlius, ascended up to the Capitol to defend religion and
the altars, from the fury of the Gauls, they all prayed to
[Floras, i. God, " Ut quemadmodum ipsi ad defendendum templum
Ejus concurrissent , it a Ille virtutem eorum numine Suo
tueretur :" "That as they came to defend His temple by
their arms, so He would defend their persons and that cause
with His power and divinity." And this excellent man in
the cause of religion found the like blessing which they
prayed for; God, by the prosperity of his labours and a
blessed effect, gave testimony not only of the piety and
wisdom of his purposes, but that He loves to bless a wise in
strument, when it is vigorously employed in a wise and reli
gious labour. He overcame the difficulty in defiance of all
such pretences, as were made even from religion itself, to ob
struct the better procedure of real and material religion.
These were great things and matter of great envy, and
like the fiery eruptions of Vesuvius, might, with the very
ashes of consumption, have buried another man. At first in
deed, as his blessed Master, the most holy Jesus, had, so he
[isa. ixi. 2. also had his ' annum acceptabilem' At first the product
Luke iv. 19.1 ,-, . ,
J was nothing but great admiration at his stupendous parts,
FUNERAL OF THE LORD PRIMATE.
and wonder at his mighty diligence and observation of his
unusual zeal in so good and great things ; but this quickly
passed into the natural daughters of envy, suspicion, and de
traction, the spirit of obloquy and slander. His zeal for the
recovery of the Church-revenues was called oppression and
rapine, covetousness and injustice ; his care of reducing reli
gion to wise and justifiable principles was called Popery and
Arminianism, and I know not what names, which signify
what the authors are pleased to mean, and the people to
construe and to hate. The intermedial prosperity of his
person and fortune, which he had as an earnest of a greater
reward to so well-meant labours, was supposed to be the
production of illiberal arts and ways of getting ; and the ne
cessary refreshment of his wearied spirits, which did not
always supply all his needs, and were sometimes less than
the permissions even of prudent charity, they called intem
perance : " Dederunt enim malum Metelli Ncevio poeta ;"
their own surmises were the bills of accusation ; and the
splendour of his great ayaOoepyla, or ( doing of good works/
was the great probation of all their calamities. But if envy
be the accuser, what can be the defences of innocence ?
" Saucior invidise morsu, quaerenda medela est ;
" Die quibus in terris sentiet asger opem ?"
Our blessed Saviour, knowing the unsatisfiable angers of
men if their money or estates were meddled with, refused to
divide an inheritance amongst brethren : it was not to be
imagined that this great person (invested, as all his brethren
were, with the infirmities of mortality, and yet employed in
dividing and recovering, and apportioning of lands) should
be able to bear all that reproach, which jealousy and sus
picion and malicious envy could invent against him. But
"air e^OpwvjToXka^avOdvovcnvol aofol," said Sophocles: and [Aristoph.
so did he; the affrightments brought to his great fame and Aves375-l
reputation made him to walk more warily, and do justly, and
act prudently, and conduct his affairs by the measure of
laws, as far as he understood, and indeed that was a very
great way : but there was ' aperta justitia, clausa manus,'
' justice was open, but his hand was shut -,' and, though
every slanderer could tell a story, yet none could prove that
ever he received ' a bribe to blind his eyes, to the value of a
A SERMON PREACHED AT THE
pair of gloves :' it was his own expression, wlien he gave
glory to God who had preserved him innocent. But, because
every man's cause is righteous in his own eyes, it was hard
for him so to acquit himself, that in the intrigues of law and
difficult cases, some of his enemies should not seem (when
they were heard alone) to speak reason against him. But see
the greatness of truth and prudence, and how greatly God
stood with him. When the numerous armies of vexed
people,
Mart., De " Turba gravis paci, placidaeque inimica quieti,"
heaped up catalogues of accusations, when the parliament of
Ireland, imitating the violent procedures of the then dis
ordered English, when his glorious patron was taken from his
head, and he was disrobed of his great defences ; when
petitions were invited and accusations furnished, and calumny
was rewarded and managed with art and power, when there
were above two hundred petitions put in against him, and
himself denied leave to answer by word of mouth ; when he was
long imprisoned, and treated so that a guilty man would have
been broken into affrightment and pitiful and low considera-
[Poiemon. tions ; yet then he himself, standing almost alone, like Calli-
Fun^ if. c. niachus at Marathon, invested with enemies and covered with
6b, o?.j arroAvs, defended himself beyond all the powers of guiltiness,
even with the defences of truth and the bravery of inno
cence, and answered the petitions in writing, sometimes
twenty in a day, with so much clearness, evidence of truth,
reality of fact, and testimony of law, that his very enemies
were ashamed and convinced ; they found they had done like
^Esop's viper, they licked the file till their tongues bled ; but
himself was wholly invulnerable. They were therefore forced
to leave their muster-rolls and decline the particulars, and fall
to their ev ^eya, to accuse him for going about to subvert the
fundamental laws ; the way by which great Strafford and
Canterbury fell ; which was a device, when all reasons failed,
to oppress the enemy by the bold affirmation of a conclusion
they could not prove : they did like those ( gladiator es' whom
the Romans called ( retiarii' when they could not stab their
enemy with their daggers, they threw nets over him, and
covered him with a general mischief. But the martyr, King
Charles the First, of most glorious and eternal memory,
FUNERAL OF THE LORD PRIMATE. Ixv
seeing so great a champion likely to be oppressed with num
bers and despair, sent what rescue he could,, his royal letter
for his bail, which was hardly granted to him j and when it
was, it was upon such hard terms, that his very delivery was
a persecution. So necessary it was for them, who intended
to do mischief to the public, to take away the strongest pillars
of the house. This thing I remark to acquit this great man
from the tongue of slander, which had so boldly spoken, that
it was certain something would stick ; yet was so impotent
and unarmed, that it could not kill that great fame, which his
greater worthiness had procured him. It was said of Hip-
pasus the Pythagorean, that being asked how and what he [Coei. Au-
had done, he answered, " Nonclum nihil ; neque enim adhuc™
mihi invidetur ;" "I have done nothing yet, for no man
envies me." He that does great things, cannot avoid the
tongues and teeth of envy ; but if calumnies must pass for
evidences, the bravest heroes must always be the most
reproached persons in the world.
" Nascitur JEtolicus, pravum ingeniosus ad omne ;
" Qui facere assuerat, patriae non degener artis,
" Candida de nigris, et de candentibus atra."
Every thing can have an ill name and an ill sense put
upon it ; but God, who takes care of reputations as He does
of lives, by the orders of His Providence confutes the slan
der, < ut memoria justorum sit in benedictionibus,3 < that the [Prov. x.
memory of the righteous man might be embalmed with ^
honour :' and so it happened to this great man ; for by a
public warranty, by the concurrent consent of both houses
of parliament, the libellous petitions against him, the false
records and public monuments of injurious shame, were
cancelled, and he was restored, 'in integrum,' to that fame
where his great labours and just procedures had first estated
him ; which though it was but justice, yet it was also such
honour, that it is greater than the virulence of tongues, which
his worthiness and their envy had armed against him.
But yet the great scene of the troubles was but newly
opened. I shall not refuse to speak yet more of his troubles,
as remembering that St. Paul, when he discourses of the
glories of the saints departed, he tells more of their sufferings
than of their prosperities, as being that laboratory and cruci-
BRAMHALL. f
A SERMON PREACHED AT THE
ble, in which God makes His servants vessels of honour to His
glory. The storm quickly grew high; ' et transitum est a
linguis ad gladios ;' and that was indeed " aSi/cla e%ova-a
[Aristot. O7r\a," ' Iniquity had put on arms ;' when it is ' armata
nequitia' then a man is hard put to it. The rebellion
breaking out, the Bishop went to his charge at Derry ; and
because he was within the defence of walls, the execrable
traitor, Sir Phelim O'Neale, laid a snare to bring him to a
dishonourable death; for he wrote a letter to the Bishop,
pretended intelligence between them, desired that according
to their former agreement such a gate might be delivered to
him. The messenger was not advised to be cautious, nor at
all instructed in the art of secrecy ; for it was intended that
lie should be searched, intercepted, and hanged, for aught
they cared : but the arrow was shot against the Bishop, that
he might be accused for base conspiracy, and die with shame
and sad dishonour. But here God manifested His mighty
care of His servants ; He was pleased to send into the heart
of the messenger such an anrightment, that he directly
ran away with the letter, arid never durst come near the
town to deliver it. This story was published by Sir Phelirn
himself, who added, that if he could have thus ensnared the
Bishop, he had good assurance the town should have been
his own : " Sed bonitas Dei pr&valitura est super omnem
malitiam hominis ;" " The goodness of God is greater than
all the malice of men •" and nothing could so prove how dear
that sacred life was to God, as his rescue from the dangers.
Mart. I. " Stantia non poterant tecta probare Deos :" ' To have kept
him in a warm house had been nothing, unless the roof had
fallen upon his head; that rescue was a remark of Divine
favour and Providence/ But it seems Sir Phelim's treason
against the life of this worthy man had a correspondent in
the town ; and it broke out speedily ; for what they could not
effect by malicious stratagem, they did in part by open
force; they turned the Bishop out of the town, and upon
trifling and unjust pretences searched his carriages, and
took what they pleased, till they were ashamed to take
more : they did worse than divorce him from his Church ;
for in all the Roman divorces they said, " Tuas tibi res
liabeto" " Take your goods and begone •" but plunder was
FUNERAL OF THE LORD PRIMATE.
religion then. However, though the usage was sad, yet it
was recompensed to him by his taking sanctuary in Oxford,
where he was graciously received by that most incomparable
and divine prince ; but having served the king in Yorkshire,
by his pen, and by his counsels, and by his interests, he
returned back to Ireland, where, under the excellent conduct
of his Grace the now Lord Lieutenant, he ran the risk and
fortune of oppressed virtue.
But God having still resolved to afflict us, the good man
was forced into the fortune of the patriarchs, to leave his
country and his charges, and seek for safety and bread in
a strange land; for so the prophets were used to do, wan
dering up and down in sheep's clothing ; but poor as they
were, the world was not worthy of them : and this worthy
man, despising the shame, took up his cross and followed his
Master.
" Exilium causa ipsa jubet sibi dulce videri,
" Et desiderium dulce levat patrias."
He was not ashamed to suffer, where the cause was
honourable and glorious ; but so God provided for the needs
of His banished, and sent a man who could minister comfort
to the afflicted, and courage to the persecuted, and resolu
tions to the tempted, and strength to that religion for which
they all suffered.
And here this great man was indeed triumphant ; this was
one of the last and best scenes of his life : " wLJuepai yap eVt- [Pindar.
Ol i 53
\oyoi /jidprupes aofywraTOi" " The last days are the best wit- 54.] ' '
nesses of a man." But so it was, that he stood up in public
and brave defence for the doctrine and discipline of the
Church of England ; first, by his sufferings and great ex
ample ; for, " Vefbis tantum philosophari, non est doctoris,
sed histrionis ;" " To talk well and not to do bravely, is for a
comedian, not a divine :" but this great man did both ; he
suffered his own calamity with great courage, and by his
wise discourses, strengthened the heart of others.
For there wanted no diligent tempters in the Church of
Rome, who taking advantage of the afflictions of his sacred
Majesty, in which state men commonly suspect every thing,
and like men in sickness are willing to change from side to
side, hoping for ease and finding none, flew at royal game,
f2
A SERMON PREACHED AT THE
and hoped to draw away the king from that religion which
his most royal father, the best man and the wisest prince in
the world, had sealed with the best blood in Christendom,
and which himself sucked in with his education, and had
confirmed by choice and reason, and confessed publicly and
bravely, and hath since restored prosperously. Milletiere
was the man, witty and bold enough to attempt a zealous
and foolish undertaking, who addressed himself with ignoble,
indeed, but witty arts, to persuade the king to leave Avhat
was dearer to him than his eyes. It is true, it was a wave
dashed against a rock, and an arrow shot against the sun, it
could not reach him ; but the Bishop of Derry turned it also,
and made it fall upon the shooter's head ; for he made so in
genious, so learned, and so acute reply to that book ; he so
discovered the errors of the Roman Church, retorted the
arguments, stated the questions, demonstrated the truth, and
shamed their procedures, that nothing could be a greater
argument of the Bishop's learning, great parts, deep judg
ment, quickness of apprehension, and sincerity in the catholic
and apostolic Faith ; or of the follies and prevarications of the
Church of Rome. He wrote no apologies for himself, though
it were much to be wished that, as Junius wrote his own life,
or Moses his own story, so we might have understood from
himself how great things God had done for him and by
him: but all that he permitted to God, and was silent in
his own defences ; " Gloriosius enim est injuriam tacendo fu-
gere, quam respondendo super are : " but when the honour and
conscience of his king, and the interest of a true religion was
[Ps. xxxix. at stake, " the fire burned within him, and at last he spake
with his tongue;" he cried out like the son of Croesus,
Herod. i. 0/?&)7re, firj Krelve Kpola-ov" Take heed and meddle not with
Schweig. the king ; his person is too sacred, and religion too dear to
him to be assaulted by vulgar hands. In short, he acquitted
himself in this affair with so mucli truth and piety, learning
and judgment, that in those papers his memory will last until
very late succeeding generations.
But this most reverend prelate found a nobler adversary,
and a braver scene for his contention: he found that the
Roman priests, being wearied and baffled by the wise dis
courses and pungent arguments of the English divines, had
FUNERAL OF THE LORD PRIMATE. Ixix
studiously declined any more to dispute the particular
questions against us, but fell at last upon a general charge,
imputing to the Church of England the great crime of schism;
and by this they thought they might with most probability
deceive unwary and unskilful readers ; for they saw the
schism, and they saw we had left them; and because they
considered not the causes, they resolved to out-face us in the
charge : but now it was that ' dignum nactus argumentumj
1 having an argument fit' to employ his great abilities,
" Consecrat hie prsesul calamum calamique labores,
"Ante aras Domino laeta tropaea suo;"
' The Bishop now dedicates his labours to the service of God'
and of His Church, undertook the question, and in a full dis
course proves the Church of Rome not only to be guilty of
the schism, by making it necessary to depart from them ;
but they did actuate the schisms, and themselves made the
first separation in the great point of the pope's supremacy,
which was the palladium for which they principally con
tended. He made it appear that the popes of Rome were
usurpers of the rights of kings and bishops : that they
brought in new doctrines in every age, that they imposed
their own devices upon Christendom as articles of faith, that
they prevaricated the doctrines of the apostles, that the
Church of England only returned to her primitive purity,
that she joined with Christ and His Apostles, that she
agreed in all the sentiments of the primitive Church.
He stated the questions so wisely, and conducted them so
prudently, and handled them so learnedly, that I may truly
say, they never were more materially confuted by any man,
since the questions have so unhappily disturbed Christendom.
'Verum hoc eos male ussit :' and they finding themselves
smitten under the fifth rib, set up an old champion of their
own, a Goliah to fight against the armies of Israel; the old
Bishop of Chalcedon, known to many of us, replied to this
excellent book ; but was so answered by a rejoinder made by
the Lord Bishop of Derry, in which he so pressed the former
arguments, refuted the cavils, brought in so many im
pregnable authorities and probations, and added so many
moments and weights to his discourse, that the pleasures of
[Judg.
1XX A SERMON PREACHED AT THE
reading the book would be the greatest, if the profit to the
Church of God were not greater.
Ovid. M. i. " Flumina Jam lactis, jam flumina nectaris ibant,
111. " Flavaque de viridi stillabant ilice mella."
For so Sampson's riddle was again expounded, " Out of the
xiv. strong came meat, and out of the eater came sweetness."
His arguments were strong, and the eloquence was sweet
and delectable; and though there started up another com
batant against him, yet he had only the honour to fall by the
[Mn. iv. hands of Hector : still " hccret lateri lethalis arundo ;" the
1-0 "I
headed arrow went in so far, that it could not be drawn out
but the barbed steel stuck behind : and whenever men will
desire to be satisfied in those great questions, the Bishop of
Derry's book shall be his oracle.
I will not insist upon his other excellent writings ; but it
is known every where with what piety and acumen he wrote
against the Manichean doctrine of "fatal necessity," which
a late witty man had pretended to adorn with a new vizor :
but this excellent person washed off the ceruse and the mere
tricious paintings, rarely well asserted the economy of the
Divine Providence, and having once more triumphed over his
adversary, " plenus victoriarum et trop&orum" betook him
self to the more agreeable attendance upon sacred offices ;
and having usefully and wisely discoursed of the sacred rite
of confirmation, imposed his hands upon the most illustrious
princes, the Dukes of York and Gloucester, and the Princess
Koyal, and ministered to them the promise of the Holy
Spirit, and ministerially established them in the religion and
service of the Holy Jesus. And one thing more I shall
remark; that at his leaving those parts upon the king's
return, some of the remonstrant ministers of the Low Coun
tries coming to take their leaves of this great man, and de
siring that by his means the Church of England would be
kind to them, he had reason to grant it, because they were
learned men, and in many things of a most excellent belief;
yet he reproved them, and gave them caution against it, that
they approached too near and gave too much countenance to
the great and dangerous errors of the Socinians.
He thus having served God and the king abroad, God was
pleased to return to the king and to us all, as in the days of
FUNERAL OF THE LORD PRIMATE.
old, and we sung the song of David, "In convertendo cap- [PS.'
tivitatem Sion," when king David and all his servants re
turned to Jerusalem. This great person having trod in the
wine-press, was called to drink of the wine, and, as an hono
rary reward of his great services and abilities, was chosen
Primate of this national Church, in which time we are to
look upon him, as the king and the king's great vicegerent did,
as a person concerning whose abilities the world had too great
testimony ever to make a doubt. It is true he was in the
declension of his age and health ; but his very ruins were
goodly; and they who saw the broken heaps of Pompey's
theatre, and the crushed obelisks, and the old face of beau
teous Philseiiium, could not but admire the disordered
glories of such magnificent structures, which were venerable
in their very dust.
He ever was used to overcome all difficulties, only mor
tality was too hard for him; but still his virtues and his
spirit were immortal ; he still took great care, and still had
new and noble designs, and proposed to himself admirable
things. He governed his province with great justice and
sincerity ;
" Unus amplo consulens pastor gregi,
" Somnos tuetur omnium solus vigil."
And had this remark in all his government,' that as he was
a great hater of sacrilege, so he professed himself a public
enemy to non-residence, and often would declare wisely and
religiously against it, allowing it in no case but of necessity,
or the greater good of the Church. There are great things
spoken of his predecessor, St. Patrick, that he founded seven
hundred churches and religious convents, that he ordained
five thousand priests, and, with his own hands, consecrated
three hundred and fifty bishops. How true the story is I
know not; but we are all witnesses that the late primate,
whose memory we now celebrate, did, by an extraordinary
contingency of Providence, in one day, consecrate two arch
bishops and ten bishops ; and did benefit to almost all the
churches in Ireland, and was greatly instrumental to the re-
endowments of the whole clergy; and in the greatest abilities
and incomparable industry, was inferior to none of his most
glorious aiitccessors.
Ixxii A SERMON PREACHED AT THE
Since the canonization of saints came into the Church, we
find no Irish bishop canonized, except St. Laurence of Dublin,
and, St. Malachias of Down ; indeed Richard of Armagh's
canonization was propounded, but not effected ; but the cha-
De Scrip- racter which was given of that learned primate by Trithemius,
tor. Eccies. ^Qeg exact|y fit tkis, our late father : " Vir in Divinis Scrip-
turis eruditus, secularis philosophic jurisque canonici non
ignarus, clarus ingenio, sermons scholasticus, in declamandis
sermonibus ad populum eoccellentis industries :" " He was
learned in the Scriptures, skilled in secular philosophy, and
not unknowing in the civil and canon laws" (in which studies
I wish the clergy were, with some carefulness and diligence,
still more conversant), " he was of an excellent spirit, a scholar
in his discourses, an early and industrious preacher to the
people." And as if there were a more particular sympathy
between their souls, our primate had so great a veneration to
his memory, that he purposed, if he had lived, to have re
stored his monument in Dundalk, which time, or impiety, or
unthankfulness, had either omitted or destroyed. So great a
lover he was of all true and inherent worth, that he loved
it in the very memory of the dead, and to have such great
examples transmitted to the intuition and imitation of pos
terity.
At his coming to the primacy, he knew he should at first
espy little besides the ruin of discipline, a harvest of thorns,
and heresies prevailing in the hearts of the people, the churches
possessed by wolves and intruders, men's hearts greatly es
tranged from true religion ; and, therefore, he set himself to
weed the fields of the Church ; he treated the adversaries
sometimes sweetly, sometimes he confuted them learnedly,
sometimes he rebuked them sharply. He visited his charges
diligently and in his own person, not by proxies and instru-
[2 Cor. xii. mental deputations : ' Quarens non nostra, sed nos, et qua sunt
Jesu Christi :' He designed nothing that we knew of but the
redintegration of religion, the honour of God and the king,
the restoring of collapsed discipline, and the renovation of
faith and the service of God in the churches. And still he
was indefatigable, and, even at the last scene of his life, in
tended to undertake a regal visitation. " Quid enim vultis
me otiosum a Domino comprehendi?" said one; " He was
FUNERAL OF THE LORD PRIMATE.
not willing that God should take him unemployed:" but,
good man, he felt his tabernacle ready to fall in pieces, and
could go no further, — for God would have no more work
done by that hand ; he, therefore, espying this, put his house
in order, and had lately visited his diocese, and done what
he then could, to put his charge in order ; for he had, a good
while since, received the sentence of death within himself,
and knew he was shortly to render an account of his steward
ship ; he, therefore, upon a brisk alarm of death, which God
sent him the last January, made his will ; in which, besides
the prudence and presence of spirit manifested in making
just and wise settlement of his estate, and provisions for his
descendants : at midnight, and in the trouble of his sickness
and circumstances of addressing death, still kept a special
sentiment, and made confession of God's admirable mercies,
and gave thanks that God had permitted him to live to see
the blessed restoration of his majesty and the Church of
England, confessed his Faith to be the same as ever, gave
praises to God that he was born and bred up in this religion,
and prayed to God, and hoped he should die in the com
munion of this Church, which he declared to be the most
pure and apostolical Church in the whole world.
He prayed to God to pardon his frailties and infirmities,
relied upon the mercies of God and the merits of Jesus
Christ, and, with a singular sweetness resigned up his soul
into the hands of his Redeemer.
But God, who is the great Choragus and Master of the
scenes of life and death, was not pleased then to draw the
curtains ; there was an epilogue to his life yet to be acted
and spoken. He returned to actions and life, and went on
in the methods of the same procedure as before ; was desirous
still to establish the affairs of the Church, complained of some
disorders which he purposed to redress, girt himself to the
work; but though his spirit was willing, yet his flesh was
weak ; and as the Apostles in the vespers of Christ's passion,
so he, in the eye of his own dissolution, was heavy, not to
sleep, but heavy unto death ; and looked for the last warning,
wrhich seized on him in the midst of business ; and though
it was sudden, yet it could not be unexpected, or unprovided
by surprise, and, therefore, could be no other than that
A SERMON PREACHED AT THE
[Sueton. in (C ev6ava<Tia" which Augustus used to wish unto himself, a civil
and well-natured death, without the amazement of trouble
some circumstances, or the great cracks of a falling house, or
the convulsions of impatience. Seneca tells that Bassus
Aufidius was wont to say, " Sperare se nullum dolorem esse
in illo extremo anhelitu ; si tamen esset, habere aliquantum in
Epist. 30. ipsa brevitate solatii :" "He hoped that the pains of the last
dissolution were little or none ; or if they were, it was full of
comfort that they could be but short." It happened so to
this excellent man ; his passive fortitude had been abundantly
tried before, and, therefore, there was the less need of it now ;
his active graces had been abundantly demonstrated by the
great and good things he did; and, therefore, his last scene
was not so laborious, but God called him away something
after the manner of Moses, which the Jews express by ( os-
culum oris Dei' ( the kiss of God's mouth ;' that is, a death
indeed fore-signified, but gentle and serene, and without
temptation.
To sum up all : he was a wise prelate, a learned doctor, a
just man, a true friend, a great benefactor to others, a thank
ful beneficiary where he was obliged himself. He was a
faithful servant to his masters, a loyal subject to the king, a
zealous assertor of his religion against popery on one side,
and fanaticism on the other. The practice of his religion
was not so much in forms and exterior ministries, though he
was a great observer of all the public rites and ministries of
the Church, as it was in doing good for others. He was like
My son, whom the Scythian Anacharsis so greatly praised,
[Max. Tyr. " o Mvcrwv rw OLKOV ol/cncras tcaXw" ' he governed his family
XV "I
well/ he gave to all their due of maintenance and duty; he
did great benefit to mankind ; he had the fate of the apostle
St. Paul, he passed ' through evil report and good report, as a
deceiver, and yet true/ He was a man of great business and
great resort : " Semper aliquis in Cydonis domo" as the
Corinthians said ; " There was always somebody in Cyclones
Synes. Ep. house." He was " /jLepi^cov rbv (Bibv epya* Kal ftifiXtp" ' lie di
vided his life into labour and his book/ He took care of his
churches when he was alive, and even after his death, having
left five hundred pounds for the repair of his cathedral of
Armagh and St. Peter's church in Drogheda. He was an
FUNERAL OF THE LORD PRIMATE. IxXV
excellent scholar, and rarely well accomplished; first in
structed to great excellency by natural parts, and then con
summated by study and experience. Melancthon was used
to say, that himself was a logician ; Pomeranus, a gramma
rian; Justus Jonas, an orator; but that Luther was all
these. It was greatly true of him, that the single perfec
tions which make many men eminent, were united in this
primate, and made him illustrious.
1 ' Ergo Quinctilium perpetuus sopor [ Wor. ,
" Urget ? cui Pudor, et, Justitiae soror, 24 5^3.]
" Incorrupta Fides, midaque Veritas,
" Quando ullum invenient parem ? "
It will be hard to find his equal in all things : « Fortasse
tanquam Phcenix anno quingentesimo nascitur" (that I may
use the words of Seneca) "nee est mirum ex intervallo [Epist.42.]
magna generari ; mediocria et in turbam nascentia sape for-
tuna producit ; eximia vero ipsa raritate commendat." For
in him were visible the great lines of Hooker's judiciousness,
of Jewel's learning, of the acuteness of bishop Andrewes. He
was skilled in more great things than one, and, as one said
of Phidias, he could not only make excellent statues of ivory,
but he could work in stone and brass. He shewed his equa
nimity in poverty, and his justice in riches ; he was useful in
his country, and profitable in his banishment ; for as ParaBus
was at Anvilla, Luther at Wittenburg, St. Athanasius and
St. Chrysostom in their banishment, St. Jerome in his retire
ment at Bethlehem, they were oracles to them that needed
it : so was he in Holland and France, where he was abroad ;
and beside the particular endearments which his friends re
ceived from him, for he did do relief to his brethren that
wanted, and supplied the soldiers out of his store in York
shire, when himself could but ill spare it : but he received
public thanks from the convocation of which he was pre
sident, and public justification from the parliament where he
was speaker ; so that although, as one said, " Miraculi instar
vita iter, si longum, sine offensione percurrere ;" yet no man
had greater enemies, and no man had greater justifications.
But God hath taken our Elijah from our heads this day : I
pray God that at least his mantle may be left behind, and
that his spirit may be doubled upon his successor ; and that
A SERMON, &C.
we may all meet together with him at the right hand of the
Lamb, where every man shall receive according to his deeds,
whether they be good, or whether they be evil. I conclude
vi. with the words of Caius Plinius : " Equidem beatos puto qui-
Gierig.j bus Deorum munere datum est} aut facer e scribenda, aut
scribere legenda :" ' he wrote many things fit to be read, and
did very many things worthy to be written :' which if we
wisely imitate, we may hope to meet him in the resurrection
of the just, and feast with him in the eternal supper of the
Lamb, there to sing perpetual anthems to the honour of
God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; to whom be all
honour, &c.
LETTERS, &c.
ARCHBISHOP BRAMHALL.
LETTERS,
&c.
LETTER I.a
From Dr. Bramhall to Laud (then) Bishop of London.
RIGHT REVEREND FATHER,
MY most honour'd Lord, presuming partly upon your
Licence, but especially directed by my Lord Deputy's com
mands, I am to give your Fatherhood a brief account of tlie [Sec Life,
present state of the poor Church of Ireland, such as our p'
short intelligence here, and your Lordship's weightier im-
ployments there, will permit. First, for the fabricks, it is
hard to say whether the churches be the more ruinous and
sordid, or the people irreverent ; even in Dublin the metro
polis of this kingdom, and seat of justice (to begin the in
quisition where the reformation will begin), we find our
parochial church converted to the Lord Deputy's stable, a
second to a nobleman's dwelling house, the quire of a third
to a tennis court, and the Vicar acts the keeper. In Christ's
Church, the principal church in Ireland, whither the Lord
Deputy and Council repair every Sunday, the Vaults, from
one end of the Minster to the other, are made into tippling-
rooms, for beer, wine, and tobacco, demised all to Popish re
cusants, and by them and others so much frequented in time
of Divine Service, that though there is no danger of blowing
up the assembly above their heads, yet there is of poisoning
them with the fumes. The table used for the administration
of the blessed Sacrament in the midst of the choir, made an
ordinary seat for maids and apprentices. I cannot omit the
glorious tombb in the other Cathedral Church of St. Patrick,
a [Printed in Collier's Ch. Hist., Pt. a vault of hewn stone beneath it. As
ii. hk. ix. vol. ii. p. 759, from the State to its usurping the place of the Altar,
Papers, and from Collier by Mant, Ch. Archbishop Usher explained, that the
of Ireland, c. viii. § 3. pp. 448-452.] place of its erection was an ancient
b ['The tomb here complained of had passage into a chapel within the
been erected by the Earl of Cork, with church, which had time out of mind
1XXX LETTERS, &C.
in the proper place of the Altar, just opposite to his Majesty's
seat, having his father's name superscribed upon it, as if it
were contrived on purpose to gain the worship and reverence
which the Chapter and whole Church are bound by special
statute to give towards the East. And either the soil itself,
or a licence to build and bury, and make a vault in the place
of the Altar, under seal, which is a tantamount, passed to
the Earl and his heirs. " Credimus esse Deos ?}) This being
the case in Dublin, your Lordship will judge what we may
expect in the country.
Next for the clergy; I find few footsteps yet of foreign
differences, so I hope it will be an easier task not to admit
them than to have them ejected. But I doubt much whether
the clergy be very orthodox, and could wish both the Articles
and Canons of the Church of England were established here
by Act of Parliament, or State ; that as we live all under one
king, so we might both in doctrine and discipline observe an
uniformity. The inferior sort of ministers are below all de
grees of contempt, in respect of their poverty and ignorance :
the boundless heaping together of benefices by commendams
and dispensations in the superiors is but too apparent ; yea,
even often by plain usurpation, and indirect compositions
made between the patrons (as well ecclesiastick as lay), and
the incumbents ; by which the least part, many times not
above 40s., rarely <£10., in the year, is reserved for him that
should serve at the Altar ; insomuch that it is affirmed that
by all or some of these means one bishop in the remoter
parts of the kingdom doth hold three and twenty benefices
with cure. Generally their residence is as little as their
livings. Seldom any suitor petitions for less than three
vicarages at a time. And it is a main prejudice to his Ma
jesty's service, and a hindrance to the right establishment of
this Church, that the clergy have in a manner no dependance
upon the Lord Deputy, nor he any means left to prefer those
that are deserving amongst them : for besides all those ad-
vowsons which were given by that great patron of the Church,
been stopped up with a partition of tire satisfaction ; and in the end the
boards and lime ; and he considered it monument was removed to a less of-
a great ornament to the church. His fensive situation. — Mason's St. Pa-
explanation, however, did not give en- trick's, notes liii, liv. quoted by Mant.J
LETTERS, &C.
King James,, of happy memory, to Bishops and the College
here, many also were conferred upon the Plantations (never
was so good a gift so infinitely abused) ; and I know not
how, or by what order, even in those blessed days of His
Sacred Majesty, all the rest of any note have been given or
passed away in the time of the late Lord Deputy. Lord Faik-
Lastly, for the revenues, how small care hath been taken
for the service of his Majesty, or the good of the Church, is
hereby apparent, that no officer, or other person, can inform
my Lord what Deanery or Benefices are in His Majesty's
gift, and about three hundred livings are omitted out of the
Book of Tax for First Fruits, and Twentieth Parts, sundry
of them of good value; two or three Bishopricks, and the
whole Diocese of Killfannore. The alienations of Church [i. e. Kiife-
possessions by long leases and deeds are infinite ; yea even
since the Act of State to restrain them, it is believ'd, that
divers are bold still to practice, in hopes of secrecy and im
punity, and will adventure, until their hands be tied by Act
of Parliament, or some of the delinquents censured in the
Star- Chamber. The Earl of Cork holds the whole Bishoprick
of Lismore at the rent of 40s., or five marks, by the year;
many Benefices, that ought to be presentative, are by negli
gence enjoy' d as though they were appropriate.
For the remedying of these evils, next to God and his
sacred Majesty, I know my Lord depends on your Father
hood's wisdom and zeal for the Church. My duty binds me
to pray for a blessing upon both your good endeavours. For
the present, my Lord hath pull'd down the Deputy's seat in
his own Chapel, and restor'd the Altar to its ancient place,
which was thrust out of doors. The like is done in Christ's-
Church. The purgation and restitution of the stable to the
right owners and uses will follow next, and strict mandates
to my Lords the Bishops, to see the Churches repair' d,
adorned, and preserved from prophanation, through the whole
kingdom.
For the clergy and their revenues, my Lord is careful that
no petitions be admitted without good certificate and dili
gent enquiry (thought a strange course here) ; and to
enable himself, and the succeeding Deputies, to encourage
such as shall deserve well in the Church, his Lordship
BRAMHALL. g
LETTERS, &C.
intends, as well in the Commission for defective Titles,
as for the Plantations, to reserve the right of Advowsons to
his Majesty, and as well by diligent search in the Records, as
by a selected Commission of many branches, to regain such
advowsons as have been usurped through the negligence of
officers, change of Deputies, or power of great men ; and by
the same to inform himself of the true state of the Church
and Clergy, to provide for the Cures and Residence, to per
fect his Majesty's Tax, to prevent and remedy alienations, to
restore illegal impropriations, to dispose, by way of lapse, of
all those supernumerary benefices, which are held unjustly,
and not without infinite scandal, under the pretence of com-
mendams and dispensations ; and to settle as much as in
present is possible the whole state of the Church. This tes
timony I must give of his care, that it is not possible for the
intentions of a mortal man to be more serious and sincere
than his, in those things that concern the good of the poor
Church.
It is some comfort to see the Romish Ecclesiasticks cannot
laugh at us, who come behind none in point of disunion and
scandal.
I know my tediousness will be offensive, unless your Lord
ship's licence and my Lord Deputy's command procure my
pardon. I will not add a word more, but the profession of
my humble thanks and bounden service ; and so, being
ready to receive your Lordship's commands, I desire to re
main, as your noble favours have for ever bound me,
Your Lordship's
Daily and devoted Servant,
JOHN BRAMHALL.
Dublin Castle,
August the 10th, 1633.
LETTERS, &C.
LETTER II. c
From the Lord Bishop of Derry to Lord Deputy Wentworth.
MAY IT PLEASE YOUR LORDSHIP/
I have, according to your commands,, reconciled the differ
ence between my Lord Bishop of Raphoe and Mr. Hamilton,
in a manner with the explicit consent of both parties, but
altogether with the implicit. Both have referred themselves
to me to set down that end in writing, which then I delivered
by word. I have drawn one eyry of hawks for fear of
stealing d j but, because they are not so ready, I forbear the
other a while, and will send them together very shortly. As
your Lordship hath committed the care of the fishing to
me, so I will be responsible that neither the fish shall be
spoiled, nor the least detriment redound to his Majesty by
any means. Yet I desire, so soon as may be, to know the
certain rent paid by the society for it, and the clear profit
they made of it, that at the least I shall be well secured.
Upon the 27th of May, at Colerain only, they had taken
sixty-two tuns of salmon. My fishing day is the 15th of
June, when I shall be able to give your Lordship a full
account. Since my last, I have disposed the ferry at Cole-
rain to the old Charon for j£34. a-year. The City had six, the
officers the rest. I humbly thank your Lordship for our
church and bells. I have sent herein Mr. Croxton's6 case
for Trinity church in Cork, with instructions concerning the
same, and do thankfully accept your Lordship's favourable
dispensation for a longer time, to make return of my other
representations. Yet one I thought fit in present to make
c [Rawdon Papers, No. iii. This let- of great hawks, or taking of hawks with
ter is partly a reply to one from Lord nets,' &c." (Berwick).]
Wentworth, dated from Dublin May e [" In a letter from Archbishop
the llth, 1635 (Rawd. Papers, No. Laiid to the Lord Deputy, dated in
ii.), requesting Dr. BramhalPs good 1634, his Grace says, ' I hear from my
offices in the " determining of some Lord of Derry, that my Lord Primate
differences" between Dr. John Leslie (Usher) is not very well pleased with
then Bishop of Raphoe, and Mr. John Croxton, nor his manner of preaching.
Hamilton a kinsman of the Marquis of I am sorry if the young man hath given
Hamilton.] any just offence, but I hope he hath
d [" In 1634 his Majesty's Attorney not ; and I doubt this is some foolish
and Solicitor General, were ordered to business of Arminianism.' " (Ber-
prepare an Act to restrain 'the stealing wick).]
LETTERS, &C.
known unto you, in the behalf of the bearer Mr. Stanhope, in
whose favour your Lordship commanded a caveat to be
entered. The Rectory of Donoghchiddy is worth £200. per
annum. The patron is Sir George Hamilton the younger ;
the incumbent is one Simple, who hath an exhibition out of
it of £50. or £60. a-year by composition, whereof Sir George
was not guilty at first, but his mother, howsoever he may be
an accessary after. The rectory was antiently in the gift of
the Bishop, but excepted and reserved by his Majesty in the
patent right, as in the case of Bell-turbitt, so as the Bishop
was excluded by way of Estopelf, yet the King had no power
to convey the same to any other untill there was a formal
surrender, which was not until the 14th of King James, long
before which this advowson was granted from the Crown;
and admit Sir George have lately passed his patent, and this
in it, which I know not : but suppose the worst, and admit
all this to be valid, yet undoubtedly it is void pro hdc vice,
being granted by his mother, who had no right from his
Majesty. I do not take upon me to advise concerning the
inheritance ; but in respect of the unworthy composition,
and to preserve the rights of the Church, which otherwise
by long leases may be obscured, I conceive it not amiss
under favor to grant this turn of it may stand with your
Lordship's good pleasure. This case requires the stricter
inquisition because it is general, and, if it stood, would bring
back to the Crown, out of unworthy hands, the advowsons of
a great number of as good benefices as any be in the North of
Ireland. My Lord of StrabaneS (who is either in a con
sumption, or very near it) and Sir George Hamilton11, the
elder, having gotten some notice, I know not how, but sus
pect it might be by some words that fell from Mr. Stanhope,
of a title to this rectory obtained or to be obtained from the
f ["Estoppel, . . . denotes as much as B [" He died in the year 1638. He
an impediment, or bar, of an action, was second son of James the first Earl
growing from his own fact that hath, of Abercorn, and was dignified with the
or otherwise might have had, his action : title of Strabane by his elder brother's
.... but Broke defineth it to be a bar gift, and was present as such by proxy
or hinderance to a man to plead the in the Parliament of Ireland which sat
truth, and restraineth it not to the im- in 1634." (Berwick).]
pediment given to a man by his own h ["Sir George Hamilton, his bro-
act only, but by another's also." Cowel's ther, was Baronet of Nova Scotia, and
Law Diction, sub voc., Lond. 1701. ancestor to the present Earl of Aber-
Bramhall seems to use it in the latter corn" (Berwick).]
and wider sense.]
LETTERS, &C. IxXXV
Crown, came to me about it. I told them I knew nothing
in particular, but in general that you did not affect such
compositions ; that I thought their best course was to seek
for an establishment of it for the future ; that I would pro
mise nothing in that respect, because I knew not what
instructions your Lordship might have, but only this, that I
would be a suitor that Sir George might be heard before it
passed the Great Seal ; nor do I think the incumbent would
be averse, so he might have Mr. Stanhope's Vicarage of 100
marks by the year1. We have finished the commission for
Terman-O-Mongan, and I hope we have proved by the iuries [See Life,
D vi note
at the great office that this is the very land intended, by a x.]
collector that this land paid by both names, by all the country
that it was in the Barony of Omagh and County of Tyrone,
and so their officer takes at Donegal merely extra comitatum.
That the difference is only in the Irish pronuntiation, and not
another Terman-O-Mongan to be found, tho' a man would
seek it with a lanthorne and candle. Macgrath himself doth
in a manner offer a submission, desires but forbearance of
the charges, which, tho' it lost me £100. I would be con
tented to forbear upon his disclamer or release. I fear
nothing but delays and cases. I am a humble suitor to your
Lordship for a license J to have powder for the defence of my
house, and provision of my table, either out of the store
house at Derry, or of the merchant. I crave pardon for my
tediousness, and remain, as your noble favours have for ever
bound me,
Your Lordship's most faithful servante,
JOH. DEKENSIS.
Fawne*, May 30tk, 1635.
: ["At 13s. 4d. the mark, the vicar- he moves for it.' Sir Christopher was
age was worth £66. 13s. 4d. by the then Lord Deputy." (Berwick).]
year." (Berwick).] k [" Fawne, otherwise, I believe,
J [" In a letter from Sir Christopher called Fahan, six miles north-west of
Wandesford to the Bishop of Derry, Derry, on Lough Swilly, in Inishowen.
dated April 25, 1640, he says, ' I have Here was formerly a noble monastery,
spoke to the Master of the Ordnance and [here] at this time must have been
for some powder for Sir Robert Steward, the residence of the Bishop of Derry."
and from him he maybe supplied when (Berwick, p. 63).]
Ixxxvi
LETTERS, &C.
[Rawdon
Papers,
No. xiv. ]
[Scotch
Book of
Common
Prayer,
publ. in
1637.]
LETTER III.
From the Lord Bishop of Derry to John Spottiswood1,
Archbishop of St. Andrew's.
MAY IT PLEASE YOUR GRACE,
Finding in my journey to Londonderry so fair an oppor
tunity, I could not in gratitude and civility omit the ex
pression of my thanks, and faithful services to your Grace
by this gentleman, Colonel Steward. Mr. Cunningham is
provided of a benefice not so good as I could wish, but yet,
one that may hold life and soul together, as we say, until he
get one that he may live more comfortably upon, which I
doubt not a short time will effect, after my Lord Deputy's
return from his progress. I humbly thank your Grace for
your high favour, the book of Common Prayer : glad I was
to see it, and more glad to see it such as it is, to be envied
in some things perhaps if one owned. I am meditating a
journey into England, and hope to kiss your Grace's hands
in the way, if my Lord Deputy's absence afford me so much
leisure, whose commands I expect by the next. So wishing
your Grace many happy days for the good of that Church, I
desire to remain,
Your Grace's faithful, and humble servant,
JOH. DEEENSIS.
Glasslough, Aug. 13, 1637.
Thus superscribed : —
" To the most Reverend Father in God, the Lord Arch
bishop of Saint Andrews his Grace, Lord Chancelor of the
kingdom of Scotland, these present.33
others, largely acknowledging the Bi
shop of Berry's charity in several let
ters," and "praying God to reward the
Abp. of Canterbury and his Lordship
for the relief they gave their distressed
and persecuted brethren" (Life, &c.
pp. 23, 24). Spottiswood "was appointed
Chancellor of Scotland in 1634, the
greatest office which had been in the
hands of a Churchman since the Refor
mation. His History of the Church
of Scotland is well known. He died in
1644 at Westminster." (Berwick).]
1 [About three years subsequent to
the date of this letter, when " Scotland
became so suddenly inflamed, that it
was too hot for many of the royal and
orthodox clergy," and they "were
forced to flee into England " and Ire
land, the Bishop of Derry in the latter,
as the Archbishop of Canterbury in the
former country, " received them with
all brotherly compassion, and provided
for them in such a degree, that we have
the Abp. of St. Andrews, the Abp. of
Glasgow, the Bishop of Ross, and
LETTERS, &C.
LETTER IV. [Rawdon
Papers,
From the Lord Bishop of Derry to Doctor Cootem, Dean of
Down.
SIR,
I have received yours of the 15th of January, and would
not part with it for an £100.; you will hardly believe that
your letters are so precious; but I will keep it as a monument
of your gratitude and discretion. You call herein for an
account in your letter, truly I cannot send it till the Lords
Justices sign : but then you shall have it by a messenger on
purpose; if it give you not content, blame yourself. And
when you write how dearly you have paid for the lease, I
desire you to recollect yourself, and inform me in what coin
it was, for in good soothe, I remember not so much as one
cracked groate that ever you disbursed about it. You tell
me that for the time to come, neither I, nor any for me,
shall let, set, or intermeddle with the tithes, or any thing
that was the Countess of TirconneFs — Dura verba ; on the
other side, I tell you I will dispose of them, and for the
time to come (you have been so thankful for the £100. a-year
I have given you sometimes) you shall not meddle with a
sheaf of them, (mark it, Sir) so long as the lease endures.
Some other part of the Church shall fare the better for your
disrespect. I am not bound to relieve you in those pinching
necessities, as you call them, which your letter imply [sic]
who lose not only your friends, but your brothers by your
disrespect. You tell me of my Lord Deputy, whose mind
I know better than yourself. When your service to this
Church and mine are laid together, I shall not need to
appear hoodwinked, 'tis your usual phrase — So God bless us
from ingratitude.
Your neglected servant,
JOH. DEKENSIS.
Jan. 27, 1639.
m ["After the Bishop's impeachment Down, which was ordered to be taken
in 1640, there was a petition presented into consideration" (Berwick).]
to the House of Lords hy this Dean of
LETTERS, &C.
[Rawdon LETTER V.
Papers, No.
XXX.]
From the Bishop of Derry to his wife, Mrs. Bramhall.
MY DEAREST JOY,
Thou mayest see by my delay in writing, that I am not
[See Life, willing to write while things are in those conditions. But
shall we receive good at the hands of God, and shall we not
receive ill ? He gives and takes away, blessed be His Holy
Name ! I have been near a fortnight at the black rod,
charged with a treason. Never any man was more innocent
of that foul crime ; the ground is only my reservedness.
God in His mercy, I do not doubt, will send us many merry
and happy days together after this, when this storm is blown
over. But this is a time of humiliation for the present. By
all the love between us, I require thee that thou do not cast
down thyself, but bear it with a chearful mind, and trust in
God that He will deliver us. I send all the horses down ex
cept my own nag, which John Field looks to. I would have
thee to come up, and only Isabell n with thee, and two
servants. I hope by that time you come to Dublin all things
will be cleared. Whatsoever monies Thomas Rowth hath,
bring up with thee, for we shall have need of all and more.
In thy absence and mine, let my sister govern the house at
Fawne, and live privately there ; I know Mrs. Wandesforde
will assist her. Give Thomas Rowth charge in your absence
and mine to take care of the husbandry at Fawne, and
desire Captain Vaughan to occupy it ; I believe he will do so
[Sir Ri- much for me. I send you a copy of the charge ; my Lord
tonan<?0l~ Chancellor and the Chief Justice believe it not to be of any
Sir Gerard great moment. I suppose the Archdeacon0 will come up
J^owtn€rj .
both also with you, his own business requires it. If he do not, send to
Thomas Halley to come along with you. My blessing on the
[His daughter, afterwards wife to see a petition of his referred to the con-
Sir James Graham.] sideration of the Committee of Griev-
0 ["Edward Stanhope, Archdeacon ances" (Berwick). See also Letter II.]
of Derry. In the following year, I
LETTER S, &C.
children; my love to all my sisters, and all our friends.
God Almighty send us a speedy and a happy meeting.
Your loving and faithful husband,
JOH. DERENSIS.
March 12. 1640. [i.
Sweet Heart, upon some better consideration let Thomas
Halley come with you, not the Archdeacon. Put up all the
plate into a great trunk, and when you come leave the key
of it with my sister.
Thus superscribed : —
"To my dear and loving wife Mrs. Ellen BramhaU at
Deny," These.
LETTER VI P.
From the Bishop of Derry to the Lord Primate (Usher).
MAY IT PLEASE YOUR GRACE,
It would have been a great comfort and contentment to
me to have received a few lines of counsell or comfort in this
my great affliction which has befallen me for my zeal to the [See Life,
service of his Majestic and the good of this Church, in being ££j note?!
a poor instrument to restore the usurped advowzons and ap- ™ . Letter
propriations to the Crown, and to encrease the revenue of the
Church, in a fair just way alwaies with the consent of parties,
— which did ever use to take away errors : but now it is said
to be obtained by threatning and force. What force did I
ever use to any ? What one man ever suffered for not con
senting ? My force was only force of reason and law ; the
scale must needs yield when weight is put into it ; and your
Grace knows to what pass many Bishopricks were brought ;
some to 100 per annum ; some 50 as Waterford, Kilfenoragh,
and some others; some to five marks as Cloyn and Kil-
P [From Bp. Vesey's Life, p. 25. this are in the Rawdon Papers, nos.
Two letters of Abp. Usher's in reply to xxxiii. xxxiv.]
XC LETTERS, &C.
macduagh. How in some diocesses, as in Ferns and Leighlin,
there was scarce a living left, that was not farmed out to the
Patron or to some for his use, at two, three, four, or five
pounds per annum, for a long time, three lives, or a hundred
yeares. How the Chantries of Ardee, Dondalk, &c. were
employed to maintaine Priests and Fryers, which are now
the chief maintenance of the Incumbents. In all this my
part was only labour and expence, but I find that losses
make a deeper impression than benefits ; I cannot stop men's
mouths, but I challenge the world for one farthing I ever got
either by References or Church preferments ; I fly to your
Grace as an anchor at this time, when my friends cannot
help me. God knows how I have exulted at night, that day I
had gained any considerable revenue to the Church, little
dreaming that in future times that act should be questioned
as treasonable. I never took the oath of Judge or Coun-
sellour, yet do I not know wherein I ever in all those passages
deviated from the Rule of Justice. My trust is in God, that
as my intentions were sincere, so He will deliver me. I
know not k°w I came to ke assistant to the Bishop of Down :
Lesley.] except it were that at the same time I had References from
my Lord, and composed all the differences between that See
and my Lords of Ardes, Claneboy, Conway, and others. I
send your Grace the copy of a petition <i enclosed as was sent
me. The Sollicitor who getts the hands is one Gray censured
in the Starr-Chamber in one Steward's case. I hear he has
got £300. by it, and that the most of the subscribers did
not know what they subscribed, but in general that it was
for the purity of Religion, and the honour of their nation.
They say he has gathered a rabble of 1500 hands, all ob
scure persons, not one that I know, but Patrick Derry of
the Newry, a Recusant, not one Englishman. It were no
difficult task, if that were thought the way, to get half of
those hands to a contrary petition, and 5000 more of a better
rank. Since I was Bishop, I never displaced any man in my
Diocess, but Mr. Noble for professed Popery, Mr. Hugh for
confessed Simony, and Mr. Dunkine, an illiterate Curate,
for refusing to pray for his Majestie. Almighty God bless
q [Viz. against Episcopacy ; as appears from Abp. Usher's reply.]
LETTERS, &C. Xci
your Grace, even as the Church stands in need of you, at
this time, which is the hearty and faithfull prayer of
Your Grace's
obedient servant and Suffragan,
JO. DEKENSIS.
April 26, 1641.
[No place mentioned, but written probably during his imprisonment in the Castle [Life,p.ix.]
of Dublin.']
LETTER VII. f,Rawd(S
Papers,No.
xli.]
From the Bishop of Derry to his Majesty Charles II. taken
from the Bishop' }s oivn copy.
SIRE,
I have been bred up in a school where I learned to ob
serve Majesty at a distance, and never was so presumptuous
to present a line to my Sovereign. Much less should I have
adventured to write to you at this time in that place, but that
I cannot be so cruel to myself, as altogether to desert and
quit a poor reputation of integrity, which (with the con
science of my loyalty) is the only thing left unto me of all
that I enjoyed in this world. — My Lord Marquiss of Ormond
did commit a trust unto me for the support of his noble
Lady. Your Majesty was graciously pleased to approve it,
and to ratify that power which he had given me. I have
executed it honestly with as much discretion as God hath
lent me. Yet some persons of eminent esteem with your
Majesty, I hope deservedly, mere strangers to me, as I to
them (I only wish they had not been too credulous to lend open
ears to what Mr. Loving r suggested for his own ends), have
not spared to blast my credit to his Royal Highness the
Duke of York, who was most concerned in it, as if I was
guilty of sinister practices and disservice to your Majesty.
This accusation came to me at the second hand from my
friends in France, Brabant, and Flanders. Presently upon
notice I went to Brussels, made my address to his Highness,
r [" There was a Mr. Richard Lo- principles of religion. Whether Lovell
veil, who was tutor to the Duke of should be read for Loving is what I do
Gloucester, by whom he was well in- not know." (Berwick).]
structed, says Lord Clarendon, in the
XCii LETTERS; &C.
petitioned for an hearing, had it granted, was acquitted;
mine accusers themselves confessing mine innocence, or
rather wanting all pretence or shew of a charge.
Nevertheless, I hear the same information hath come to
your ears. My humble request and supplication is that you
will continue me in your good opinion, untill you afford me
means to vindicate myself by the just favor of an in
different hearing. The weight of your displeasure would so
crush me down, being already sunk under the burthen of
my other sufferings, that I should not only quit that em
ployment, but retire myself into some desolate corner of the
world there to pray for your Majesty's happiness. If only
to accuse, were sufficient to condemn, no man shall be inno
cent. In the mesnagery of a much greater trust I have lived
free, not only from corruption, but suspicion. And having
tried myself Parliament proof in that, I do not doubt to
justify myself before equal judges in this. The God of
Heaven protect you from all your enemies, and prosper your
affairs, that you may live to equal and exceed the glory of
your most renowned ancestors, which shall be the daily
prayer of
Your Majesty's most loyal and
most dutiful subject,
JOH. DERENSIS.
Hague,
T 16 1650
[Rawdon LETTER VIII.
Papers, No.
xlii.J
From the Bishop of Derry to his Son, under the name of
Mr. John Pierson.
JOHN,
As to the letter which you have sent me inclosed in yours
from your noble friend, you may return him this answer with
the tender of my hearty thanks for his favours to you and
the rest of mine. I remember well he had a proper adven
ture, and that he received some money of Mr. Wandesforde ;
LETTERS, &C. Xciii
but how much his adventure was, or how much the money
was, I dare not charge my memory, untill I see the old ac
counts, or the copy of them from you. He was to have gone
at first a fifth part, but Sir Richard Scot dying shortly, a
fourth. The adventure proved extremely to loss by Mr.
Jackson's delays and bad returns, and by the casting away a
ship at Wexford, load en with wools and iron, and by the
most ill mesnagery of those who were trusted by the other
adventurers, and lastly by the change of the winds. The
whole burden fell upon me, for when I was a prisoner in the
Castle of Dublin s, before I could be bailed, they caused me
to take upon me the whole debt, seized upon the money they
found in Mr. Tucker's hands, seized upon the rents of the
Upper Fishing, which were behind for two years, stopped all
the moneys that were due to me in disbursements, seized
upon the produce of a whole year's adventure in Mr. Jack
son's hands, and seized upon mine own fishings, which were [See Life,
£500. a year, which they, or I know not who, have held ever Eetterii.]
since : if it had been a business of advantage, he should
surely have heard from me before this. I made a tedious [See Life,
and chargeable voyage into Spain, where I received some p, an'
money from Mr. Jackson, and gave him acquittance for the
same ; and after a year or two my friend received other note u-
moneys from him, to whom I gave power to acquit him so
much as he received, but not otherwise. The truth is, Mr.
Jackson paid what he could, and when he would. But ex
cepting a part of an account which he sent me into Ireland,
he never did give me any account, nor ever would shew me
an account untill this day, upon the pretence that I was but
an adventurer. But you will find amongst my papers all
Mr. Jackson's particular accounts, which I had from him,
and Mr. Tucker's accounts, and Mr. Wandesforde's accounts.
Preserve them diligently, and send me copies of them, and of
mine own accounts, which are about the same business ; and
comparing those with what I have received since, or have
here, I shall be able to lay the burthen on the right party,
* [" In the Journal of the House of a more secure lodging. 20 May, 1641.
Commons I find a message to the This must, I suppose, have been pre-
Lords, that they would be pleased, in vio us to his being lodged in the Castle."
regard the Bishop of Derry lyeth so (Berwick).]
near the water, to appoint his Lordship
LETTERS, &C.
for I have found some of their accounts very different. Be sure
you present unfeigned thanks and faithful service to that
noble gentleman, and all his : depend upon his advice.
So God bless us !
Feb. *}, w*.
[No place mentioned.]
[Rawdon LETTER IX.
Papers, No.
From the same to the same.
JOHN,
I have received yours of April 3, but long after the date.
Trust me it is not general petitions, but particular applica
tions, that must do your work. I am right glad you have
your uncle's deeds. Peruse them better, for I do not believe
yet there is any covenant to release, but only a declaration
of trust, which did not enable the nephew to sell or dispose.
So as I believe all done in that kind to be void in law ; you
that have the means may satisfie yourself better upon the
view of the deeds.
[viz. The " That lying abusive book was written by Milton himself,
- one wno was sometime Bishopp ChappellV pupil in Christ
Churchu in Cambridge, but turned away by him, as he well
deserved to have been both out of the University and out
of the society of men. If Salmasius his friends knew as
much of him as I, they would make him go near to hang
himself. But I desire not to wound the nation through his
sides, yet I have written to him long since about it roundly.
It seems he desires not to touch upon that subject. That
[See Life, silly book which he ascribed to me, was written by one John
xxxv. ] P' Rowland, who since hath replied upon him. I never read
either of the first book, or of the Reply, in my life."
So God bless us !
Antwerpe,
* 1654.
1 [At this time Provost of Trin. Coll. against Milton concerning the story
Dublin, and Bishop of Cork and Ross. here alluded to, the last sentence only
He died in 1649.] of this letter having heen communicated
« [i. e. Christ's College. Bramhall to Archdeacon Todd by Mr. Berwick.]
it must be observed, is a new witness
LETTERS, &C. XCV
I answered whatever touched me in that pamphlet, of
which there is not a true word.
JOHN PIERSON.
Thus superscribed : —
" To my very loving sonne Mr. John Pierson, at Ripon."
LETTER, X.v
A Letter from the Right Reverend J. Bramhall, D.D. Bishop
of Derry (afterwards Primate of Ireland) to the Most
Reverend James Usher, Archbishop of Armagh.
MOST REVEREND,
I thank God, I do take my Pilgrimage patiently, yet I
cannot but condole the change of the Church and State of
England. And more in my Pilgrimage than ever, because I
dare not witness and declare to that straying flock of our
brethren in England, who have misled them and who they
are that feed them. But that your Lordship may be more
sensible of the Church's calamities, and of the dangers she is
in of being ruin'd, if God be not merciful unto her, I have
sent you a part of my discoveries, and it from credible hands,
at this present having so sure a messenger and so fit an op
portunity.
It plainly appears that in the year 1646, by order from
Rome, above 100 of the Romish Clergy were sent into
England, consisting of English, Scotch, and Irish, who had
been educated in France, Italy, Germany, and Spain; part
of these within the several schools there appointed for their
instructions.
In each of these Romish nurseries, these scholars were
taught several handicraft-trades and callings, as their inge
nuities were most bending, besides their orders or functions
of that Church.
v [From Parr's Life and Letters of with "Abp. Usher's Prophecy," and
Abp. Usher (printed in 1685), the first a letter of Sir Wm. Boswell on the
impression of which was seized by order same subject, in 1687, and again in
of James II. on account of its inser- the Harleian Miscellany (vol. vii. pp.
tion (Evelyn's Diary under the date of 542, &c.).]
April 18, 1686). It was reprinted,
LETTERS, &C.
They have many yet at Paris a fitting to be sent over, who
twice in the week oppose one the other; one pretending
Presbytery, the other Independency ; some Anabaptism and
the others contrary tenents, dangerous and prejudicial to the
Church of England, and to all the Reformed here abroad.
But they are wisely preparing to prevent their designs,
which I heartily wish were considered in England among
the wise there.
When the Romish orders do thus argue pro and con,
there is appointed one of the learned of those Convents to
take notes and to judge : and as he finds their fancies,
whether for Presbytery, Independency, Anabaptism, Athe
ism, or for any new tenents, so accordingly they be to
act and to exercise their wits. Upon their permission
when they be sent abroad, they enter their names in the
Convent registiy, also their Licences ; if a Franciscan, if a
Dominican, or Jesuit, or any other order, having several
names there entered in their Licence ; in case of a discovery
in one place, then to fly to another and there to change their
names or habit.
For an assurance of their constancy to their several orders,
they are to give monthly intelligence to their Fraternities, of
all affairs, wherever they be dispersed : so that the English
abroad know news better than ye at home.
When they return into England, they are taught their
lesson, to say (if any enquire from whence they come) that
they are poor Christians formerly that fled beyond sea for
their religion' sake and are now returned, with glad news, to
enjoy their liberty of conscience.
The 100 men that went over in 1646 were most of
them soldiers in the Parliament's army, and were daily to
correspond with those Romanists in our late King's army
that were lately at Oxford, and pretended to fight for His
Sacred Majesty : for at that time, there were some Roman
Catholics who did not know the design a contriving against
our Church and State of England.
But the year following, 1647, many of those Romish
Orders who came over the year before, were in consultation
together, knowing each other. And those of the King's
party asking some why they took with the Parliament's side,
LETTERS, &C.
and asking others whether they were bewitched to turn
Puritans, not knowing the design : but at last, secret Bulls
and Licences being produced by those of the Parliament's
side, it was declared between them, there was no better
design to confound the Church of England than by pre
tending liberty of conscience. It was argued then that
England would be a second Holland, a Commonwealth ; and
if so, what would become of the King? It was answered,
Would to God it were come to that point. It was again
replyed, yourselves have preached so much against Rome,
and His Holiness, that Rome and her Romanists will be
little the better for that change : but it was answered, You
shall have Mass sufficient for a hundred thousand in a short
space, and the governors never the wiser. Then some of the
mercifullest of the Romanists said, This cannot be done unless
the King die, upon which argument, the Romish Orders thus
licenced, and in the Parliament Army, wrote unto their
several Convents, but especially to the Sorbonists, whether
it may be scrupled to make away our late Godly King and
His Majesty his Son, our King and Master; who, blessed be
God, hath escaped their Romish snares laid for him ? It was
returned from the Sorbonists that it was lawful for Roman
Catholicks to work changes in Governments for the Mother
Church's advancement, and chiefly in an heretical kingdom ;
and so lawfully make away the King x.
Thus much to my knowledg, have I seen and heard since
my leaving your Lordship, which I thought very requisite to
inform your Grace : for myself would hardly have credited
these things, had not mine eyes seen sure evidence of the same.
Let these things sleep within your Gracious Lordship's brest,
and not awake but upon sure grounds, for this age can trust
no man, there being so great fallacy amongst men. So the
Lord preserve your Lordship in health, for the nation's good,
and the benefit of your friends : which shall be the prayers of
Your humble Servant,
July 20, 1654. J. DERENSIS.
[No place mentioned. Dr. Bramhall was at Brussels in Sept. 1654 (Thurloe's
Slate Papers, vol. ii. p. 601).]
x [The whole of Bramhall's state- tail in P. Du Moulin' s Vindication of
ments in this letter may be seen in de- the Protestant Religion, pp. 58, 60.]
BHAMHALL. h
XCviii LETTERS, &C.
LETTER XU
Bishop Bramhall's Letter to Dr. Bernard concerning the
observation of the Lord's Day.
SIR,
I went yesterday to Leyden with Mr. Honnywood and
Mr. Bancroft, to bring them so far on their way towards
Utrecht ; at my returne hither, I met with yours of Aug. -rV?
wherein you desire my judgment concerning the Sabbath or
Lord's day, which without any longe preface or needlesse
circuit of words is briefly this: first, in the Sabbath or Lord's
Day something is morall, that is, injoined by the law of nature;
namely, that some time be set apart for the service of
Almighty God. This is perpetuall and immutable, as being
grounded upon the eternall law of Justice, and this the
schooles use to call the substance of the commandement.
Secondly, something in the Sabbath is not morall, that is,
not determined by the law of nature, but injoined by the
positive Law of God or of the Church; as the time and
place and other circumstances, which they call modum
sanctiftcandiy or the manner of sanctifying the Sabbath.
This is mutable and may be changed, so it be by those that
have competent Authority to make such a change as is intro
duced. The manner of sanctifying the Sabbath with the
time and many other circumstances was prescribed by God
to the Jewes : yet not so precisely in all respects but that
many things were left to the determination of the Jewish
Church, as the formes of their hymns and prayers and
thanksgivings. This manner of sanctifying the Sabbath as
it was mutable in its owne nature, so it was actually changed,
and particularly as to the circumstance of time from the
seventh day to the first day of the weeke, either by Christ or
y [From Bp. Barlow's MSS. in the 1658, to which it seems to be a sequel.
Library of Queen's Coll. Oxford, en- Bp. Barlow has given neither the time
dorsed as above. It is apparently an when nor the place whence it was writ-
extract only, and relates to the same ten; but the former is fixed by the
controversy as Dr. Bramhall's Dis- observation just made, and the latter
course upon the Sabbath and Lord's appears from the first sentence of the
Day (See noteU,p.xxxiii.), written about letter itself to have been the Hague.]
LETTERS, &C.
by His Apostles inspired by the Holy Ghost : which is all
one, whether Christ immediatly in His own person or
mediatly by His Apostles inspired by His Spirit, did make
this change.
The reason of this change was this, that as the celebration
of Sunday being the first day of the creation, doth con
tinue the memoriall of the creation as well as Satturday or
the day after the creation, so likewise it is a memoriall of the
great blessings which we received from Christ upon this day,
upon a Sunday He was born for us, upon a Sunday He rose
againe from the dead; upon a Sunday He sent the Holy
Ghost; and the Primitive Christians had a tradition that
upon a Sunday He should come againe to judge the quick
and the dead : upon these grounds and especially in memory
of the resurrection of Christ, being the new creation of the
world ; the Apostles by the command of Christ or by instinct
of the Spirit did change the Sabbath from Satturday to
Sunday. So we see there was a sufficient Authority and
sufficient ground for doing of it. Two things onely remaine,
one is to shew that the Apostles did change it; and the
second, that this change is unalterable.
For the first, if there were no other proofes of it, yet the
perpetuall and universal! tradition of the Catholick Church,
in all ages, in all places, is proofs sufficient. The Eastern,
Western, Southern, and Northern Christians have all observed
it from their first matriculation into Christianity. It is an
undoubted rule, that whatsoever hath been observed every
where, allwaies, and by all Christians, is of the Institution
of Christ or of His Apostles; but the observation of the
Lord's Day hath been universall amonge all Christians, and
perpetuall longe before there were any generall Councells;
of which uniforme and universall observation no man can
imagin a reason but the command or direction of Christ or
of His Apostles.
We find not onely the footsteps but evident proofes of this
change in Holy Scripture ; as where it is called expressly the
Lord's Day as by a well-knowne name, Bevel. 1. 10. And
where it is related as a common duty or ordinary custome of
the Primitive Christians to meet together upon Sunday or
the "first day of the week'' to heare the word preached, and
C LETTERS, &C.
participate of the Sacrament, Acts 20, 7: as likewise to make
gatherings and collections for the poore as God had blessed
their labours the foregoing week, 1 Cor. 16. 2. And that
this " one day of the week" (accordinge to the Hebrew idio-
tisme) or this " first day of the week" was the Lord's Day
or the day of the Lord's Resurrection, is prooved undeniable
out of Mark 16, 2. To this all the Fathers of the first ages
do beare witnesse unanimously.
So as there can be no doubt in the world but either that
Christ or His Apostles, or Christ and His Apostles, He as
principall Authour, they as His Ministers, did either change
the Sabbath from Satturday to Sunday, or superadde Sunday
to Satturday : but they did not adde Sunday to Satturday,
that is, that both days should be observed, as is plaine out of
St. Paul, Coll. 2. 16. "Let no man judge you in meat or
drink, or in respect of a holyday, or of the new moons, or of
the Sabbath dayes, which are a shadow of things to come,
but the body is of Christ." The Ebionites were so offended
with St. Paul forthis manifest declaration of himselfe against
the Jewish Sabbath, that they refused to admitt him. So the
legall obligation to Satturday was ceased in St. Paul's days,
although the free observation of it, as a day of gratitude to
God, lasted long after in the Church for diverse weighty
reasons. It is plain then Sunday was not superadded to
Satturday : but the Sabbath changed from Satturday to
Sunday : neither is it anythinge opposite to this change, that
the Jewish Sabbath was to continue for ever, for that eternity
was onely to be understood duringe the continuance of the
Jewish Republick : and the Jewish Sabbath, for so far as it is
morall, doth continue of time for ever in the Lord's Day.
The onely doubt rernaininge is whether the day may be
changed. I answer No : for two reasons ; first there can be
no sufficient cause to [or?] ground of such a change to
counterbalance the resurrection of Christ, and new creation
of the world and all those benefites we received from Christ
upon this day. Secondly there can be no sufficient Authority
to abrogate that which hath been instituted by Christ and
His Apostles. But it may be objected that the Apostles as
chiefe governors of the Church, did sometimes make pruden-
tiall ordinances which were locall or temporary, and might
LETTERS, &C. d
be antiquated in time or abrogated by the Church. I doe
acknowledge it : but they were of another nature then this.
This without all restriction of time or place, as appeareth by
the perpetuall and universall tradition of the Catholick
Church. Secondly I have shewed that Sunday was not
superadded to Satturday as a new festival!, brought z into the
Church in the place of Satturday; as we see by all those
holy duties which were transferred from the one day to the
other; and by the ceasing of the legall obligation to Sattur
day accordinge to St. Paule. So the Lord's Day doth succeed
the Jewish Sabbath in the morall duty of that day which is
eternal!, and therefore the day ought to continue for ever,
as the duty itselfe doth continue for ever, and as the Jewish
Sabbath was to be eternall to the Jewes during the state of
the Jewish Eepublick : so the Lord's Day as the Christian
Sabbath ought to be eternall to Christians,, during the
Christian Republick. This is briefly and succinctly my
sense.
LETTER XII. [Rawdon
Papers,
From the Lord Bishop of Deny to Mrs. Bramhall. No-xivii.]
SWEET HEART,
When I came first to this city I thought I should have [See Life,
been dismissed within a fortnight. But this coming over of ^xi' nofe
the Irish Commissioners, and the expectation of a settlement,
have detained me thus long. They meet upon Wednesday
next, and it is believed we shall have both a chief governour
named, and council, and judges. This advantage I have
made of my stay to settle all my temporals, and I hope John
Forward's also, for so they promise me. Audley Mervine a
hath disclaimed fourteen town-lands, and writes down to the
present tenants to decline possession. Mr. Roberts acknow-
[Dr. Bramhall apparently intended mons "in the first Parliament sum-
to write " but brought" &c.j moned after the Restoration" (Ber-
a ["He was afterwards appointed wick). See also note T, p. xxv, and the
Speaker" of the Irish House of Com- Archbishop's will, below No. XVI.]
Cii LETTERS, &C.
ledgetli that lie hath no right to Milough, and I am not out
of hopes to get some reparation for want of it so long. Upon
Monday sevenight I purpose to begin my voyage, and Sir
James Graham b with me, with my son Thomas. My Lady
of Ormond is now here. Salute all my friends. Tell
Mr. Holmes, if he will, he shall go along with me. My
blessings on my daughters. So God bless us all !
Your very loving husband,
JO. DEKENSIS.
London,
July 7, 1660.
Thus superscribed : —
" To my dearest wyfe Mrs, Elenour Bramhall in Yorkshire,
at Bipon."
LETTER XIII. c
The Petition of the Clergy of Ireland to Charles II. , to be pre
sented to his Majesty by the Duke of Ormond} then Lord
[See Life, Lieutenant.
p. xiii, and
MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY,
The Bishops here residing have thought fit to present the
inclosed Petition to his Majesty. It was occasioned by a
letter of my Lord elect Bishop of Cork to me d ; there is no
thing in it which they are not both able and ready to justify.
Since it was subscribed, we have received a copy of his
Majesty's gracious letter of November 20th, touching the
settling of impropriations, tithes formerly invested in the
Crown, or forfeited lands, which were held of the Church
upon the Bishops or churches of which they were held. By
the grace of God we shall mesnage his Majesty's bounty with
as much prudence and advantage to him and his subjects as
is possible. These were the main requests we had to make
b [His son-in-law.] d [Michael Boyle, Dean of Cloyne,
c [Rawdon Papers, No. xlviii. See afterwards Archbishop successively of
Carte's Life of the Duke of Ormond, Dublin and Armagh.]
bk. vi. vol. ii. pp. 210, &c.]
LETTERS, &C. Cm
by our agents. They will admit little debate,, being of lesser
moment, as the union of lesser benefices to make a compe
tency : some little glebes where there are none, one free
school to be erected in every diocess where there is not one
already; and lastly, one uniform table of tything to be
established throughout the kingdom. Now the main re
quests being granted already, whether it will be needful to
send agents for the rest I leave to your Lordship's prudence.
One Bishop and one Clerk were designed; either my Lord
Elect of Down e, or of Cork, for the Bishops, and either
Dr. Loftus or Mr. Underwood for the Clerks. They have
one request more, that in respect benefices are of so small
value for the present, and their churches and houses almost
all down, that as in like cases hath been used, his Majesty
would be graciously pleased to remit the first-fruits of such
persons as now so shall be admitted to any livings or promo
tions from the beginning of the Rebellion until the feast of
the Nativity of Christ, which shall be in the year of our Lord
1661, that is, for one year yet to come ; and in lieu thereof,
they do assent to settle an equal and perfect tax (which
hitherto hath been neither equal nor perfect) of all ecclesias
tical benefices and dignities throughout the kingdom, to the
great increase of his Majesty's revenue, in his twentieth parts
and in his first-fruits. This much I dare undertake, that the
Crown shall be a great gainer by this, I had almost said,
now necessary favour. These things are but barely proposed ;
and if there be any of them which do not relish well, upon
the least intimation they shall be quickly expunged. Your
Excellency seeth that the Clergy of Ireland know no mediator
to his Majesty but yourself. You will scarcely find a staff so
hard wherewith to drive them from you. Sir James Graham
lives in hopes until he receives his doom. That you may live
long, and give much, and die holy, and inherit Heaven, is the
Dutch proverb, and our prayer. So God bless us !
Your Excellency's most humble
and most faithful servant,
JO. DERENSIS,
Elect. Armach.
f [Jeremy Taylor.]
Civ LETTER S, &C.
MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY
Your orthodox Clergy throughout Ireland have taken the
boldness to present unto you their unanimous request by the
Bishops now resident in Dublin, and craved your Royal
licence for two agents from them to come over and represent
the low state of the Irish Church, and such means as seem
to them conducible to the happy and peaceable settlement
thereof. Since that petition was signed, they have received
a copy of your gracious letter of November 20th, wherein
you have both satisfied their present, and prevented their
further, desires ; for how can they fear, lest you should
suffer them to be stripped of their present livelihoods, who
have of your free bounty inlarged their means out of your
own just rights to enable them to serve God and His Church
and your Majesty with most comfort. For this singular
grace they have enjoined me to present their most humble
thanks, and to acknowledge that they deserve to be branded
with the highest note of extreme ingratitude, if they should
cease to praise God for you, and to pour out their daily
prayers to the throne of Grace for your long life and pros
perous reign over them, and to do their uttermost endeavours
that, under the shadow of your wings, your subjects may lead
a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
Your Majesty's most humble
and faithful subject,
JO. DERENSIS,
Electus Armachanus.
Dublin,
December 5, 1660.
[Rawdon LETTER XIV.
Papers,
No. ixii.] From the Lord Primate to Sir Edward Nicholas, Secretary of
State.
HONOURABLE SIR,
I am commanded f by the House of Peers to make known
unto your honor, that they have named four of their mem-
f [As Speaker of the House of Lords.]
LETTERS,, &C. CV
bers to be their Agents s, to attend his sacred Majesty in
England, for the good of this Church and Kingdom,, to con
tinue there so long as his Majesty shall license them, and the
House shall judge expedient, which they do therefore repre
sent, that no other person or persons may pretend themselves
to be qualified as agent or agents to negociate public affairs
in the name of this Kingdom, except such others as shall
be employed into England for that purpose, by the Right
Honorable the Lords Justices and Council, the House of
Convocation, and the House of Commons, in their several
and distinct capacities ; which being all that is commanded
me by the House, I crave leave to subscribe,
Your Honor's most humble
and obedient servant,
JO. ARMACHANUS.
Dublin,
July the 10th, 1661.
LETTER XV. [Rawdon
Papers,
The following Letter of Primate Bramhall to Charles II. is No< lxxiv']
transcribed from a true copy taken by John Coghill.
MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY,
The Church of Ireland, now humble suitors unto you for
the remission of their twentieth parts and first-fruits for the
time past, which request your Majesty, by the mediation of
my Lord Steward, was graciously pleased to grant. And [The Duke
truly it was absolutely necessary that it should be so ; first in mond".]
justice, for they have received nothing out of those dignities
and benefices which they hold in title only, for these twenty
years past, and if they had received any thing, yet few or
none of them are able to pay any thing at this time without
their utter ruin; and " where nothing is to be had, even
kings lose their rights."
» ["Earls of Kildare and Mount- missioners, 31 July, 1661." Journals
Alexander, John Lord Bishop of El- of the House of Lords, quoted by Ber-
phin, and Lord Kingston, to attend his wick.]
Majesty in England as Lords Com-
CVI LETTERS, &C.
And yet, because they are not willing to receive this great
benefit to themselves with any prejudice to your Majesty, or
the least diminution of your revenue, they offered by me to
settle an equal and universal tax of all ecclesiastical prefer
ments throughout Ireland, whereas now some few of them
are over-taxed, a great many of them are altogether untaxed,
and the most of them are ludicrously taxed, so as to make them
liable to the name of twentieth parts, but rarely to first-fruits.
I am very confident that such an equal and universal tax as
is offered by them, will double or treble your Majesty' s eccle
siastical revenue every way, in twentieth parts, in first-fruits,
in subsidies. If your Majesty be pleased to impose the care
of this great work upon me in a regal visitation11, I will
charge or burthen no man but myself in the execution
thereof. I hope to make you such a tax by consent, without
any noise or opposition, and to settle an exact list of all
patronages of the Crown, which are now smothered, and in a
great part usurped, than which nothing concerns your Majesty
more, to maintain and preserve the depen dance of your sub
jects upon yourself; the clergy depending much upon their
patron, and the people upon the clergy. And lastly, I doubt
not but to make a perfect rentall of all such impropriations
as have either in former times by your Royal father been be
stowed upon the Church, or by your Majesty's own grace and
bounty are now to be restored to the Church, so as the an
cient revenues of your Crown shall be upheld, and your Ex
chequer sustain no prejudice. But if your Majesty in your
high prudence shall think any other course fitter for effecting
this design, I do humbly submit, and shall most readily be
subservient in any way which your Majesty shall approve.
Now I beseech your Majesty to give me leave to add a
word or two in the behalf of Sir James Graham, whose near
relation to me will excuse what I say, whilst I contain myself
(which I hope both he and I shall always do) within the
bounds of modesty.
He seeth your Majesty's bounties thrown abroad, like
medals at a coronation, for those that can catch them, and
h [SeeLife,p.xiii.,andLetterXIIT; tioned, the concluding pages of Dr.
and, for a full account and discussion of Vesey's Life.]
the Archbishop's projects here men-
LETTERS, &C. Cvii
whilst you are doing good to your persecutors, he takes the
boldness (with the good thief on the Cross) to step in for
himself, " Lord, remember me." If his suffering hath been
more than his acting, it was for want of power, not of loyal
duty, wherein he hopeth evermore to approve himself an
equal to the best of your subjects. The Lords Justices here
do approve him, and have twice recommended him into Eng
land for some preferment. And it is, if not a blemish, yet
some little shame unto him to see others of his countrymen
daily receive marks of your Royal favour, and himself to miss
them, either by his misfortune, or, if he should still be silent
untill the whole act be concluded, by his supine negligence.
I am confident he will offer nothing to your Majesty which
may in the least degree intrench either upon your honor or
your interest, or your engagements. So I submit him and
his request to your Majesty's grace, and myself to your
pardon for this presumption ; and for conclusion, beg this
further favour for him, that your Majesty will grant him a
speedy dispatch, that he may haste back hither to serve you
in this approaching Parliament l.
God preserve your Majesty long in health and happiness,
for the welfare of your kingdom and the good of this Church,
which is the incessant prayer of your Majesty's
Most loyal and obedient
subject and servant,
JO. ARMACHANUS.
[TVo date.]
Vera copia, per me, John Coghill.
LETTER XVI. k
The last Will and Testament of Abp. Bramhall.
In the Name of God — Amen. I, John, Lord Archbishop
of Armagh, Primate and Metropolitan of all Ireland, being of
perfect sense and memory, blessed be Almighty God, doe in
1 [" Sir James Graham sat for the k [From the Introduction to the
borough of Armagh in the Parliament Rawd. Papers, pp. 4 — 11, the original
which met in Dublin in May, 1661" being in the possession of the Marquis
(Berwick).] of Hastings.]
LETTERS, &C.
the first place render unto His Divine Majestic my humble
and hearty thanks, that He hath permitted me with mine own
eyes to see His salvation, and the restitution of his sacred
Majestic to his Royall Crown, and the Church of England
to its former glory, than which I doe not believe that the
whole world hath any Church that conieth nearer to Apo
stolical truth, both in doctrine and discipline. And I doe
heartily praise God That ordained me to be born and bred
up in it, and pray that I may end my days in the communion
of it. And, withal, considering with myself the certainty of
my dissolution, but the uncertainty of the hour in which it
shall please God to call me ; and weighing with myself that
I approach to that time which is the ordinary period of man's
life, three score years and ten ; and being not unmindful of
mine own paralytical infirmities, as having seen the walls of
my body moulder away by degrees ; I doe, with all humble-
nesse and resignation of myself, make this my last will and
testament.
In the first place I render up my soul into the hands of
God, That gave it, humbly beseeching Him, for Christ Jesus
my Saviour's sake, that He will vouchsafe to accept it, not
withstanding all my frailties and infirmities, into His celestial
habitation, which He hath prepared for His faithful servants.
Next, I do bequeath my body to the earth of which it was
composed, to be interred with Christian decencie, without
worldly pomp, so far forth as it may be conveniently avoided,
either in the Parochial Church of St. Peter's, Droghedah, or
in the Cathedral Church of St. Patrick, at Armagh, at the
discretion of my heir and executor hereinafter mentioned.
Item, I will, and my will is, that so many blacke freeze
gownds shall be bestowed upon poor men and poor women,
as will make up the number of my years which I have lived
in this transitory life, and such other acts of charity per
formed as I shall give directions to my heir. And although
I cannot in present settle such a course as I would towards
the reparation of the Cathedral Church of St. Patrick's,
Armagh, and the Parochial Church of St. Peter's, Drog
hedah ; yet it is my firm purpose and resolution not to be
wanting to either of them, so long as God permits me to live
in this world ; and when I have more opportunity to advise
LETTERS, &C. cix
with my friends, to prescribe some course for the accom
plishing of that pious worke. Item, I will, and my will is,
that the summe of five hundred pounds out of the arrears of
rent due to me out of the Bishopricke of Deny, be given
towards the reparation of the said two churches, over and
above those summes which I shall bestow upon them in my
life-time. And although I found all the churches and
mansion-houses belonging to my See either ruined or in
clining to ruin, yet I have, as the time would give me leave,
repayred the house at Drogheda, and provided timber for the
house at Termon-feekan l, with a full purpose, if God lend
me life until I am able to finish it, to build up the said
house, and to inclose it with a Parke for my successor ; and
if it please God to take me away before I have finished this
intention, it is my will, that all the timber, iron, boards, and
other materials, which I have prepared towards it, be given
to my successor towards the perfecting the work. Item, I
doe further give unto my said successor the hangings of the
Presence Chamber, and all the chairs and stools and tables
in it, and all the ranges throughout the house where I found
not one. Item, my will is, that all my waged servants shall
be kept together in my last-mentioned house for three months
after my death in decent sorte, thereby to inable them to
provide for themselves in other service ; and at their departure
they shall have each of them a year's wages, as a token of my
love to them, and mindfulnesse of them. Item, I will, and
my will is, and I do hereby strictly injoyne my heir and
executor, here under-named, to satisfie and pay all the just
debts which I shall owe at the time of my death, whether
they were due by bill, bond, or otherwise, and with that
speed and satisfaction to my creditors as my estate shall be
able to bear; and that the articles made between me and
Mr. Bulkely, Archdeacon of Dublin, shall be made good for
a rent-charge, to be paid him out of my manour of Belgree,
untill my heir and executor shall provide for him another
inheritance, or another rent-charge of equal value to that
1 [" Termon-feckin, or Terfeckan," the county of Lowth, Barony of Fer-
from whence Usher dates a letter to rard, and about three miles and a half
Bp. Bramhall, Aug. 10, 1639 (Rawcl. from Drogheda. Usher was the last
Papers, No. xxiii.), is "a palace be- Primate who made it his residence."
longing to the See of Armagh ; it is in Rawd. Papers, p. 61. note.]
CX LETTERS, &C.
which lie now holds. Provided, nevertheless, that this my
intention shall no further bind my heir and executor than I
shall give warrant for by another codicill ; because, it is my
meaning to see what use Mr. Bulkely, Archdeacon of Dublin,
did intend or desire to make of the power usurped from his
Majesty, to the prejudice of me and my heirs. Item, I will,
and my will is, that my dear wife, Ellinor Bramhall, shall
have and enjoy to her proper use and behoofe, for her life,
all my plate and household stuffe and utensils, which are not
otherwise disposed of by this my will, free from, and dis
charged of all debts, and other incumbrances whatsoever;
and after her death, it is my further will, that the same be
equally divided amongst my three daughters, if they be living
at the time of her death, or such of them as are then living.
Item, I doe devise and bequeath unto my son and heir appa
rent, Sir Thomas Bramhall, Barronett, and the heirs male of
his body issuing, all my proper and personall acquisitions,
and all those my manours, towns, lands, and hereditaments,
of and in Castletown, Moylagh, and elsewhere, in the county
of Meath, with all the appurtenances, and particularly some
lands in the county of Meath, which I purchased jointly with
Robert Maude, Esq., and such other lands as I purchased of
Mr. Cowse and Mr. Roberts in the manour of Moylagh, and
of and in the manour of Belgree, in the County of Dublin, or
Meath, or both of them ; and of and in the manour of the
Omagh, as well those lands which are now possessed by me, as
those lands which are held unjustly from me by Sir Audley
Mervin, which nothing withholds me from recovering but his
present priviledge m only ; and all my other lands in the
County of Tyrone, which are likewise held from me unjustly
by the said Sir Audley Mervin ; the remainder thereof to the
heirs of my body issuing, the remainder thereof to my right
heirs for ever ; charged, nevertheless, with one yearly rent-
charge or annual summe of two hundred and fifty pounds
sterling, with power to distrain as aforesaid; [which] I doe
hereby devise and bequeath unto my said wife during her
life, in lieu, recompense, and full satisfaction of all dowers or
thirds which she may challenge or demand out of my estate,
either real or personal, other than what I have herein before
m [He was Speaker of the Irish House of Commons.]
LETTERS, &C. Cxi
devised to her. Provided, always, that he my said son shall
marry with the consent of such overseers as I shall hereafter
name in this my last will and testament. Item, I do hereby
devise and bequeath unto my loving son-in-law, Sir James
Graham, Knight, and my eldest daughter Isabella Graham,
alias Bramhall, his wife, the summe of seven hundred pounds
ster., which with other moneys he hath already received, and
other advantages conferred on him, I hope will abundantly
satisfie him for his wife's portion. Item, I do hereby devise
and bequeath unto my two younger daughters Jane and
Anne, all my estate in the lease of Drumragh, in the County
of Tyrone, which I purchased of the two Lady Leighs long
since; and likewise whatsoever other leases I have in the
County of Donnegal, which I bestow upon them for their
maintenance untill they be better provided for. Item, I doe
further hereby devise and bequeath unto my said second
daughter, Jane Bramhall, for her marriage portion the sum
of £1500 ster. payable upon her marriage; and I do likewise
devise and bequeath the like marriage portion of £1500 ster.
unto my third daughter Anne Bramhall, payable likewise upon
the day of her marriage. And I do further will, and my will
is, that each of my said daughters unmarried shall have £20
a piece yearly, for their respective maintenance, from my said
heir, untill their respective marriages ; and in case either of
my said daughters unmarried die before marriage, in such
case, that the portion of the daughter so dying before mar
riage shall be divided between the surviving daughters ; and
forasmuch as I have left my son, Thomas Bramhall, an estate
able to bear it, and he is not yet married, it is my meaning
and my will, that as well his wife's portion, as all my real
estate, be chargeable with the said portions to be raised to
my two daughters. Item, the better to inable my son,
Thomas Bramhall, to satisfie the said debts and portions, I
will, and my will is, that the said Thomas Bramhall, his heirs
and assigns, shall have and enjoy all the lands and heredita
ments which his Majestic will be graciously pleased to bestow
upon me, in consideration of my great losses sustained in the
late, or as a bounty for my services as Speaker of the House
of Peers in this present, Parliament. Item, I do hereby
constitute and appoint my said son, Thomas Bramhall,
Cxii LETTERS, &C.
during his life, my sole executor of this my last will and
testament ; and from and after his death, I doe constitute
and appoint the heirs of his body lawfully begotten executors
of my said will ; and for want of such heirs, I doe constitute
and appoint my said son-in-law Sir James Graham and my said
three daughters executors of this my will. Item, I will, and my
will is, that my said executor or executors respectively, shall
and may recover, have, and enjoy, all the arrears of rent due
unto me out of my late Bishopricke of Derry, out of which I
was wrongfully expelled for twenty years and more, which
remains due unto me in law and conscience. Yet, neverthe
less, my will is, that moderation be used in exacting the
said arrears ; and that no person be compelled to pay more
than three years' rent at the highest ; and that those whose
lands were not planted till of late be yet more favourably
used, if they do not prove obstinate to oppose my right, which
is undeniable. Lastly, according to my expectation and con
fidence in my said wife and children, I doe pray, and as much
as in me lyeth enjoyne them, to observe all acts of love one
to another, and to avoid all unnatural suites and contentions,
and to rest satisfied with this my will, according to the pur
port thereof, and my true meaning therein declared as afore
said. And I doe hereby constitute the Most Honorable,
and my singular good Lord, His Grace James Duke of
Ormond, Lord Lieutenant- General of Ireland, and the Right
Honorable the Earl of Orrery, supervisors of this my last
will and testament ; and intreat them to accept of two Rings,
such as my Executor shall present to them, in remembrance
of that love and duty which I ought unto them. As witness
[i.e. 166|.] my hand and seal, this fifth day of January, 166.2.
JO. ARMACHANUS,
Signed and sealed and published in the presence of
Ja. Grahame and John Coghill.
LETTERS; &C.
CX111
LETTER XVII.
Extract from the Acts* of the Convocation of the Irish Church [See Life,
in 1661, containing its 'Public and Solemn Recognition' o/iiote'g.]
Archbishop Bramhall' s services.
Decimo tertio Die Julij 1661°.
(After granting a subsidy, the Convocation proceeds as
follows : — )
" Deinde hsec Sancta Synodus, apud se reputans Ecclesiam
Hibernicam, supra quam dici potest, jam olim magiia et nuper
nova variis et magnis incrementis aucta beneficia nactam
esse, a mirifica in earn beneficentia Reverendissimi in
n [After the preceding pages were in
print, the extract above given from the
Acts of the Irish Convocation of 1661,
hitherto supposed to be lost, has been
received through the kindness of Dr.
Todd of Dublin. It is taken from the
MSS. of Archbishop King recently
purchased by Trinity College, Dublin,
and deposited in their library.
The kindness of the same gentleman
has supplied the Editor with some fur
ther information relative to Archbishop
Bramhall, which it is hoped may be
allowably inserted in this place. The
figures refer to the pages of the Life, to
which the information in each case re
lates.
" p. iv. line 4. Mr. Wandesforde first
presented Mr. Bramhall to the School
of Kilburne by Thirsk, near Kirkling-
ton, in Yorkshire. See Comber's Life
of Wandesforde, p. 83.
p. vi. 1. 2. Dr. Bramhall obtained
the Archdeaconry of Meath by patent
dated 4th March, 9 Car. I., i. e. 163*
(Rolls, 9 Car. I. 3rd pt. f ).
ibid. 1. 18. He was promoted to the
Bishopric of Londonderry by warrant
under Privy Seal dated at Westminster
9th May (1634), patent at Dublin 24th
May (of the same year), and writ of re
stitution and mandate of consecration of
the same date (Rolls, 10 Car. 1. 2ndpt. f).
p. vii. 1. 20. It appears by Bishop
Downham's Visitation book in the
library of Trin. Coll. Dublin, that in
1622 'the Cathedral church of St. Co-
lumb at Derry had not so much as any
ruins left, neither was there any other
Cathedral or parish church built in
stead thereof within the city of
Londonderry.' In 1634 the King
BRAMHALL.
granted a licence to the Society of the
Governors and Assistants of London
of the new plantation in Ulster ' to alien
in mortmain to Bishop Bramhall, and
his successors, the church or fabric of a
church lately built in Derry, together
with a chancell, a library, a vestry-house,
and tower, belonging to the same, and
also a church-yard and place of burial
lying about the same, to the end they
might be consecrated and dedicated to
the service of God; to have and to hold
to the Bishop, and his successors, in
frank-almoyne,' together with a clause
for the use of the inhabitants and of the
parish of Derry alias Templemore
(Rolls, 10 Car. I. 1st pt. d). The
Cathedral was finished in 1633, and a
stone placed over the door with the
following inscription, —
ANO.DO.
1633
IN.TEMPLO.
VERVS.DEVS.
EST.VERE.Q:
CLEMENS.
CAR. REGIS.
9.
JF. STONES . COVLD . SPEAKE.
THEN . LONBONS . PRAYSE .
SHOVLUE . SOVNDE . WHO .
BVILT.THIS . CHVRCH . AND.
CITTIE . FROM . THE . GROVNDE.
See a view of the Cathedral as then
built, and a facsimile of this inscription,
in the Ordnance Memoir of the parish
of Templemore, pp. 102, 103. Dubl. 4to.
1837.
p. viii. 1. 17. Aug. 4, 1637, Bp.Bram-
hall had a grant of lands in the Co. Ty
rone to him and his successors from the
Crown (Rolls, 13 Car. I. 4th pt. f).
CX1V
LETTERS, &C.
[John Les-
Taylorj'and
Christo Patris, Johannis providentia divina Arcliiepiscopi Ar-
machani, Primatis et Metropolitan! totius Hibernian, hujusque
Synodi prsesidis, nihilque se liacteims gratitudinis ei publice
rependisse, nunc vero officii sui memor, et debit! quo eminen-
tissime suse paternitati diu obstricta est, moram dilatae solu-
tionis diutiorem facere non potuit, et propterea in fidem ma-
joris quam sibi debet obsequii, et ut gesta sua, egregia et sin-
gularia, omnium sermone perpetuo celebrentur, et ut nulla
unquam setas de suis laudibus conticescat, statuit et deerevit,
publicam et solennem ea ex parte in Scriptis fieri recogni-
tionem,, non ut obligation! qua est beneficentise suae devincta
ulla ratione satisfaciat, sed potius ut debitam magnitudinem
non dissimulans se non esse solvendb ac perpetuo debituram
libere profiteretur. Ileverendis igitur in Christo patribus et
Episcopis, Jolianni Clogherensi, Jeremise Dunensi, et Georgio
Derensi, istius recognitionis in scriptis confectioiie [m] com-
miserunt ; et ut paratiores essent lianc rem ipsis commissam
p. xii. 1. 3. He was appointed Arch
bishop of Armagh by warrant under
Privy Seal dated 1st Aug. (1660) at
Whitehall, with a grant of the mesne pro
fits from the date thereof (Rot.pat. Cane.,
12 Car. II. 2nd pt. f); by patent dated
18th. January (166-2-), and writ of re
stitution dated the same day (Rot. ut
supra, dorso).
p. xix. note 1. A much better reason
can be given for the Calvinistic turn of
the Irish Articles than that assigned by
Pr. Vesey: for many divines, who were
troublesome inEnglandfromPuritanical
opinions, were provided for in the Irish
Church to get them out of the way ; for
example, Travers the opponent of
Hooker was made Provost of Trinity
College, and thus the Church corrupted
at the fountain head. See NeaPs Hist.
of the Puritans, Brooke's Puritans, and
Reid's Hist, of the Presbyterians, for
the way in which the Irish Church was
deluged with Puritanism."
Through the same channel the Editor
has been enabled also to procure a copy
of Dr. Loftus's Funeral Oration, men
tioned in p. iii. ; of which the title is as
follows, — " Oratio Funebris, habita post
ExiiviasNuperiRcverendissimi in Christo
Patris Johannis Arcliiepiscopi Armacltani,
Totius IlibernicePrimatis et Metropolitan!,,
terra mandatas XVI. Die Julii 1663, in
Ecclesld Cathedrali Sa. et Individuce Tri-
nitatis Dublin. Qnam effudit Dudleins
Loftusius J. U. D. Vic. Gen. Arm.
Dublinii MDCLXITI." It contains a
highly eulogistic sketch of the Primate's
life and character, written however with
a greater appearance of reality and in
a more impartial tone than might be
expected in such a composition ; but
the portrait which it draws is ro en
tirely identical, not only in the main
outlines but even in the more minute
features, with that presented in Bp. Tay
lor's Sermon, as to render it superfluous
to give both to the reader. For minor
details in matters of fact, it appears from
this ' Oration ' (p. 4), that Bramhall (who
went to Cambridge in 1608) was, at the
time of his going to the University, in
his 16th year, and at the time of his
death (June 25, 1663) 'not quite 70,' —
whence it would follow that he was not
born later than 1593 (see Life, p. iii.
note a). It appears by the parish re
gister of Pontefract, that "John, the
son of Peter Bramhall, was baptized the
18th day of Nov. 1594." Dr. Loftus
also informs us that the Archbishop had
been forty-five years married at the
time of his death (consequently that he
married in 1618), and that he had in all
fix children, although only four sur
vived him (p. 32). He has fallen
however into the same error with Jer.
Taylor (see above, p. Iviii), in stating
(p. 6) that Dr. Bramhall' s disputation
at Northallerton was with three Jesuits.]
LETTERS, &C. CXV
aggredi, et feliciori nisu absolvere, multiplies ejus virtutes,
quibuscum agendamm rerum experientis consuetude multo-
rum annorum quam liabuit cum Me Ecclesia ac in omni vita
prudentia conjuncta esset, recitarunt, dixeruntque niliil Re-
verendissims paternitati sus unquam defuisse in rebus Eccle-
sis procurandis, et promovendis, vel ex prudentia, vel ex dili-
gentia, vel ex fide requisitum, et in Ecclesiastics discipline
administratione tarn exactam justitiae normam eum semper
esse secutum ut nulla sive prsmio virtus nullum sive poena
crimen in sua Diocesi vel Provincia relinquebatur. Dixcrunt
etiam se non minus labentem ac prope cadentem Ecclesis
disciplinam prudentia sua sustinuisse quam ejus redditus et
proventus sua industria promovisse; posteriori enim in re
nulli corporis labori nulli animi cautioni pepercit, uncle fuit
quod annul diets Ecclesis redditus aucti erant ad quadra-
ginta millia librarum supra antiquum eorundem valorem ; in
prior : vero, id est Ecclesiasticam disciplinam, tanto exarsit
desiderio, ut in eo omnes suas curas et cogitationes defigebat,
unde fait, quod Canones et Constitutiones Ecclesiastics,
ipsius prsecipue mediante labore, anno Domini 1634, edits
sunt, quibuscum cleri universi luxuris, cupiditati, atque licen-
tiae, frsnum quod facile excuti non posset vinciebat. Tune
etiam significatum est dictis Reverendis Patribus, qua mente
semper fuit in eos qui labe Symoniacs pravitatis infecti sunt,
et quomodo in eos exercuit Canonics severitatis ultionem ;
etiam si enim, inter veniente pecunia, frequenter beneficia
Ecclesiastica fuerant acquisita ante primum ejus in Hiberniam
adventum, ille tamen edoctus non minus e Sacris Literis quam
Decretalibus Gregorii Epistolis et Sexto, quod simoniaca
pestis sui magmtudine alios morbos vincit, sine dilatione,
mox ut ejus signa per aliquam personam claruerunt, de
Ecclesia Dei earn eliminavit et e gratis sus benignitate re-
pulit. Tune etiam dictum fuit, laboriosam negotiorum molem
Reverendissims sus paternitati nunc temporis incumbentem
tarn gravem esse quod omnem posteritatis fidem superaret,
post enim felicem et diu exoptatum ejus in Hiberniam nuper
reditum hanc Ecclesiam longe alienam a pristine suo statu
invenit; alios enim cscis erroribus captos, alios tetrs lisreseos
labe infectos, alios foeda scliismatis contagione laborantes, ex
iniquo superstitionis errorisque mancipio liberare et ad EC-
i 2
CXV1
LETTER S, &C.
clesise gremium traducere habet : quibus in rebus tantum in
dies insudat, nt inde in fastiginm spe nostra erecta expectan-
dum est, quod eminentiae suis auspiciis jactata lisec diu
agitata et fere aquis immersa Ecclesia revivescat, consistat,
et plane acquiescat0. Desideravit denique dicta Synodus ab
imis cordis visceribus, ut istum Reverendissimum patrem qui
in tantum auxit, sublimuit, profuit, et prsefuit huic Eeclesise,
eum incolumem conservat Deus, ut diutissime iidem prosit et
prosit, et ut ipse qui semel, Deo adjutore, a lateribus ad
marmora traduxit Hiberniae Ecclesiae sedificium,, idem nuper
fere dilapidatum, a marmoribus ad aurum sanctiore sedifica-
tione traducat, in solidum et splendidissimum pietatis suse
monumentum et seternam Dei gloriam."-
LETTEIl XVIII.
From the Bishop of Derry to Sir Richard Browne, Ambassador
of King Charks II. at Paris? .
SIR,
I humbly tlianke you for your last great favour. I am
migiitily ashamed to be so burthensome to my friends, and
[Life,P.x.] as low as my condition is would be extremely glad to meete
with any opportunity which might render me so happy as to
be able to make some kind of acknowledgment. I beseech
you be pleased to favour me with the conveiance of the
° [Dr. Bramhall seems to have been
consulted in the affairs of the English
Church as well as of the Irish, although
in both instances he failed of success in
the measures -which he proposed. It
appears from a letter of Lord Clarendon
to Dean Barwick (Life of Barwick,
p. 424), dated Brussels, July 8, 165f>,
that, upon a difficulty arising in the ap
pointment of English Bishops at the
Restoration through the want of Deans
and Chapters, Dr. Bramhall, while he
" seemed to wish the adoption of the
Irish way" of election (viz. by patent
from the Crown) in England also, urged
the removal of the immediate obstacle
by consecrating Bishops " to the void
Sees in Ireland, and thence removing
them to others in England."]
P [The original of this letter is in the
possession of Mr.Upcott, who has kindly
allowed it to be here published. Unfor
tunately it was not received until too
late for insertion in its proper place,
viz. between Letters VI. and VII. It is
endorsed by Sir Richard Browne (the
father-in-law of John Evelyn) as " from
the Bishop of Derry, 30th June 1646,"
and is addressed "A Monsieur Monsieur
Le Chevalier Browne, Resident du Roy
de la Grande Bretaigne, A Paris."
Under the signature is written in the
handwriting of Evelyn, "The learned
Bip. Bramhall: after the K-gs restaur.
Primate of Ireland."]
LETTERS, &C. CXVU
enclosed to Mr. Bough and to preserve his answer for me
untill you heare where I am settled, which I thinke for some
short while will be at Liege. I expect no more letters
out of Spaineq. The onely satisfaction which I have there
is that I must expect none untill the [leases proove clearer1".]
He writes to me that by September he may know a certainty
of it. And God bless him from the Jesuits. And I say God
bless me from so much cunning and unthaiikfullness as I have
mett wth in this business.
I beseech you present my humble respects to my good
Lady and your pretty daughter8. So God Allmighty bless us.
Your most faithful], and assured servante,
JOII. DEKENSIS.
June 30, 1646.
[ATo place named. BramlidWs usual residence duriny the time was at' Antwerp.]
I write no newes hence because I dare not putt my sickle
into my good neighbours' affaires,
q [See Life p. xi. note P. p. xxii. handwriting bad, but the characters
Remarks at the end of note U. p. xxxvi. seem most nearly to resemble the
and Letter II.] words above given.]
r [This clause is almost illegible in s [Afterwards the wife of Evelyn.]
the original, the ink being pale, and the
"mOMNHMONETMA.
TOS1TO QUOD IIAEEBAT MORTAL!-:,
DIERUM AC FAM^E SATUR,
^EVUM AG1T IN GLORIA
JOANNES B RAM HALL US,
IN TIIEOLOGIA PROFESSOR S1MUL ET PRIMAS ;
QUI STRAFFORDIO DEBUIT
QUOD DERRENSIS SEDIS FACTUS SIT ORNAMENTUM,
CAROLO, QUOD ARMACHAN^E DECUS,
AT SII1I QUOD UTRAMQUE DIGNITATEM ET MERUIT ET AUX1T.
VER.E RELIGIONIS IN HIBERNIA
ERAT ET SACERDOS, ET SACRIFICIUM, SED ET STATOR.
SUB EJUS AUSPICIIS TAM F^ELICITER MILITAV1T ECCLESIA,
UT VEL HIC TRIUMPHANTEM FACILE DIXERIS.
CIV1LES INTER DISCORDIAS,
PROSPERO REGNI PRINCIPISQUE STATU
DEIQUE CULTU UNA COLLAPSIS,
IPSE ETIAM CECIDIT
(NEQUE ENIM ALITER POTUIT PERIEE) :
CUM IIS RESURREXIT, CUM IISDEM VICTURUS,
QUAM DIU VEL MONARCHIA VEL PIETAS FUTURE SINT SUPERSTITES :
PCENAS A REBELLIBUS SUBIIT, SED INVIDIA DIGNAS :
HONORE PLECTEBATUR, OSTRACISMO INSIGNITUS,
DUM IN ILLO ECCLESIA ANGL1CANA VEL EXULARET VEL PEREGRIN AKETUR.
AT NON TAM VICTUS QUAM IN POSTERUM PROVIDENS
FORTUNE POTIUS QUAM HOSTI CESSIT ;
MORE PLANE PARTHICO, FUGIENS JACULABATUR,
NISI QUOD EADEM SAGITTA
ET VULNERA ET MEDELAM MEDITATUS SIT.
PAPISTIC^E CALVINISTIC^EQUE SUPERSTIT1ONIS,
SIMUL ET ATHEISMI, MALLEUS :
ROMAM ET GENEVAM SUBEGIT,
QUODQUE MAGIS IIERCULEUM EST,
HOBBESIUM QUO VIS, VEL SUO, LEVIATHANE MONSTROSIOREM
PERDOMUIT ;
1NFULAMQUE TOT INTERTEXTAM LAUREIS ^ETERNITATI CONSECRAVIT.
VIATOR NE BRAMHALLUM QU^ERITES
INTER SAXA ET RUDERA, PERITURA TEMPORIS TROPH^A ;
ILLE IN LITERARUM MONUMENTIS SUA SIBI STRUXIT MARxMORA,
LOSG^EVIORA ^EGYPTIACIS, ET SUPRA PYRAMIDAS MIRANDA :
SETHUM NOSTRUM NON ALI^E DECENT COLUMNS,
QUAM QU^E SCIENTIAM ET VERITATEM DILUVIO VINDICENT ;
H^E CHRISTIANUM DECENT ALCIDEM ;
HAS CUM DEMUM STATUISSET,
RELIGIOSAS LITES LONGUM JUSSIT FACESCERE,
ET MILITIA PROBE FUNCTUS CESSIT QUIETI.
NOBIS ET SER1S NEPOTIBUS
MERITO INSCRIBAMUS LICET LITERAR11S HIS COLUMMS
NON ULTRA.
THE VICTORY OF TRUTH
FOR THE PEACE OF THE CHURCH;
OR,
AN EPISTLE
FROM M. DE LA MILLETIERE,
COUNSELLOR IN ORDINARY TO THE KING OP FRANCE,
TO THE KING OF GREAT BRITAIN,
'TO INVITE HIS MAJESTY
TO EMBRACE THE CATHOLIC FAITH.
THE VICTORY OF TRUTH
FOR THE PEACE OF THE CHURCH, &c.
SIR,
THE wisdom of God's counsels differs widely from the [The true
judgment formed of it by the skill of those men, who S|a"o"§
are destitute of the knowledge of His grace. One sort, and evils
who know neither God nor His providence, look upon all
the events of human life as if they happened by chance.
They imagine, that what we call prosperity or adversity
hath no other cause than accident, and the influence which
each man's prudence or imprudence exerts upon the guidance
of his life. Others, who acknowledge a Divine providence,
but only after the manner that God hath manifested it to the
world by the instructions and judgments of His Law, think,
that all the goods, which heap prosperities upon them, are
the effects and the testimonies of the favour wherewith God
cherisheth those that are His; and that the ills, which
oppress man's life with miseries, are arguments of the anger
and hatred of God upon those He handles after that manner.
But Christians, to whom God hath revealed by the Gospel the
2 counsel of His mercy in Jesus Christ, know, that in His
Cross, on which, for satisfying the justice of the Law, He
hath borne the penalty of our sins, He hath also changed,
for those He calls to His communion, the use of afflictions ;
and that He employs them first to humble them, and to make
them acknowledge their sin, that they may desire deliverance
from it, to the end they may come by this way to the faith of
His grace, which doth deliver them; and, when they are
entered into communion with Him by faith, that the exercise
of the same afflictions accomplisheth in them the work of His
grace, in giving them, by the consolation He affords in their
patience, the hope of the glorious happiness which He hath
promised them, and which transports all their affections with
CXX11
THE VICTORY OF TRUTH ; OR.
[The evils
of the Great
Rebellion
to be simi
larly ex
plained.]
[1. Their
real cause,
2. theirtrue
remedy,
easily
traced.]
[1. Their
real cause
visible in
its effects.]
love of Him. Those, therefore, that have this faith and this
hope, are of a judgment far differing from the opinion of
men of the world, upon the issue of the goods and the evils
which accompany man's life.
Considering, Sir, the present fortune of your Serene Majesty,
far removed from the majestic condition of your birth, I
humble myself with you in the sight of the powerful Hand of
Gcd, Who is the only Judge and only Master of monarchs,
to ascend by the steps, whereto the Gospel leads us, even into
the counsel of His infinite mercy. And I find there, that the
catastrophe of this great calamity, which environs you, is a
work of the wisdom of the King of Kings, Who desires to
shew in you, whom he hath honoured with His unction and
His image, a wonderful effect of His grace, and of His power.
I say, Sir, that under the cloak of the so many sad adventures,
which you experience by revolutions so strange that all the
universe doth shudder at them, the King of Heaven and of
earth, Who hath humbled Himself for you infinitely more
low than you are, draweth Himself near unto you. He comes
to take you by the hand, not only to re-establish you in your
throne, but to make you to sit in His, that you may reign with
Him eternally, after you have employed the sceptre, which
He shall put again into your hand, to re-establish His
Kingdom among your subjects.
It is very easy for me, Sir, to give you a reason of this
judgment I make of that of God upon your sacred Person,
and to unfold unto you, not only the causes and the effects
of the ill which is come upon you, but also the way, the use,
and the success of the remedy, which the Hand of God will
give you, to accomplish in you this work of His mercy.
If we seek the cause for which, as we see, the hand of God
hath made itself so grievously heavy upon the sacred head of
the King your father, and which pursues, yet after him, your
Royal Person with so many sinister accidents ; which hath
caused this great desolation to come upon all your kingdoms,
this confusion, and this subversion of their peace and former
prosperity, this change into which they have so blindly
precipitated themselves, to part with the form of government
that God had established amongst them, under which they
had lived so happily for so many ages past, and become slaves
AN EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. CXXiii
of the yoke wliicli the armed hand of a tyrant hath put upon
their head under the false name of liberty ; — it will be very
easy for us to find the cause of this, and to detect it by its
effects.
You are not ignorant, Sir, and all the world knows it with [The mo-
you; that the matter, for which this parricidal Parliament Padiarnent
hath so cruelly persecuted the King your father, hath been {{J
the ecclesiastical government, of which it desired to change pass.]
the form by the abolition of the Episcopate, and the suppres
sion of the Liturgy and the ceremonies, through which the
Protestants of your kingdom had yet retained some image of
the Catholic Church. Those, whom they call Puritans and
Presbyterians, who desire to live under the form of the
Genevan discipline, could not endure the form of that an
cient Order, which the Royal authority had retained as
instituted by Divine authority, and as for this very thing
necessary, for its conformity, to preserve in Christian states
the form of a monarchical government. From thence it has
come to pass that the Puritan and Presbyterian faction hath
conceived, and always kept in its breast, an implacable hatred
against monarchical government, by reason of their aversion
to the Episcopal. The prudence of King James, your
Majesty's grandfather, Sir, having judiciously taken notice of
this, did as wisely warn his posterity, by an express booka, to
take heed of it. And this King, who knew Church, as well
as State matters, foreseeing the inconvenience that might
arise from it, when expressing with his lips that which
touched him at the heart, had this familiar speech, ' No Bishop,
no King* ;' which is become a lamentable prophecy under his
successor. But, O good God ! what a successor ! Such an
one, certainly, that there was neither cause nor pretext
capable of stirring up the hatred of subjects against a King
so merciful, so just, and so loyal, so amiable to his people, so
3 venerable to his neighbours ; save this only prejudice, with
which the Puritan faction had imbued them, in making them
believe, that under that ancient form of government arid
a [The book intended appears to be ton Court, pp. 36. 84. Lond. 1625; and
the BaaiAiK^ Awpov, lib. ii. See pp. Archbp. \Viiliams' " Great Britain's
147 — 149. ap. Jacobi Regis Oper., ed. Salomon," or Funeral Sermon for King
Montac. Lond. 1619.] James the First, in Lord Somers'
b [See Dr. Barlow's Confer, at Hamp- Tracts, vol. ii. p. 46.]
CXX1V THE VICTORY OF TRUTH j OR,
service the King and the Bishops had an intention to re
establish in the realm the Catholic religion. This is the
poison, which the Puritan faction hath inspired into the
hearts of the people, to fill them with hatred against a king
so worthy of love. And this republican Parliament, seeking to
raise itself to a sovereign authority by the annihilation of that
of the King, hath not thought any occasion more favourable
to its design, than to put on the garb of Puritan opinions, that
it might arrive at the accomplishment of its desires; which it
has done at last by the sacrilegious parricide of its Arch
bishop and of its King.
[The mo- This surely, Sir, is the grand work of man's malice, and the
God very Devil's cunning, in the accomplishment of the ills, that are
permitting1 ^a^en upon your crown and person by the pitiful fate of that
them to be succession which ought to have befallen you. But assuredly
brought to J J
pass.] the justice and wisdom of God in this conjuncture hath other
bearings.
[i. The mo- Every one knows that this Archbishop, nourished in the
justice and scnism from the Catholic Church, had no other thought nor
towards ' ^nc^Ii^on than to reunite in one body the people divided
Arch- into sects among themselves, as well as from the Church,
Laud;] and to make himself chief head of this schismatical body.
And we see God hath permitted, that his own people, divided
against itself, hath caused his head to be cut off.
[towards The King, otherwise accomplished in all royal and moral
Charles the virtues, did use in the schism, by the law of his predecessors,
the authority which God had given him in temporal matters,
for governing of spiritual, and called himself their head. It
is for this reason, that God, chastising in his person the fault
of his predecessors, has designed, by the tragical spectacle of
an unheard-of death, in a King no less innocent than lawful,
to let us know, that so strange an effect of His anger hath
had no other object, than to instruct all other princes that
are in the schism, with what severity God will revenge His
glory, for the injury done to the unity and to the authority
of His Church.
[2. The mo- But if such is the end of Divine justice and wisdom
mercy; viz. ™ bringing about your ill fortune, His mercy, Sir, reaches
stotethe" much fartner '> an(1 tllis is tlie end that concerns you. For
necessary God makes it here plainly appear unto your Majesty, that
AN EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. CXX\
the Reformation, which the authors of the schism in this conse-
latter age have pretended to make, hath been in reality th
(under the pretext of so fair an outside) nothing else than the
entire ruin, as well of the faith and form of the Church, as of formation.]
the Order itself instituted by God for the governing of men.
This is the lesson which God sets before your eyes in the
history of this sad revolution, which hath given you the
wound, the feeling whereof is to be your instruction. You
shall see, Sir, by all the circumstances of these tragical
results, which have produced the trouble, and changed the
form of your estates, and which have ravished from you the
crown; that the new religion, which your predecessors em
braced after the schism, is their only efficient cause, by the
very maxims and foundations of the scheme, which its authors
have called the Reformation of the Church.
Their new opinions did very easily insinuate themselves [Thatthese
under this outward colour through the clefts of the schism areseif-de-
into the spirit of the Bishops, who had rendered themselves structlve>]
guilty of it. But neither they themselves that received this
novelty, nor the kings that authorized it, did think they
were charging themselves with Uriah's packet, and embracing [2Sam. xi.
a religion, which would abolish both the authority of Bishops
and the sovereignty of kings. For men are always blind in
the works of darkness, which they do by the instinct of that
Spirit, who is ever disguising himself as an Angel of Light [2 Cor, xi.
that he may induce them to commit them. And their
passions, which do blind them, do insensibly draw them into
precipices of mishaps, whereof neither the steepness nor the
depth ^is by them discerned. Certainly, whosoever should
have demanded of Peter Martyr himself and Martin Bucer,
who carried Calvin's Reformation into England, whether
they went there to bring in the Brownists' opinions, who,
by the maxims they received from their hands, did a little
after devise a more exact Purity by the motions which they
suppose the Holy Ghost suggests unto them, from whence it
is that they esteem themselves more reformed Puritans; —
whosoever likewise should have' enquired of them, whether
they came to sow there the seed of indifference to all religious
opinions, and of the extinction of all ecclesiastical discipline,
of all rule and form of a common faith, according to the
CXXV1 THE VICTORY OF TRUTH j OR,
determination of tlie Independents ; — whosoever, lastly,
should have asked them, whether the Sword of the Word
they carried in their months was to cut off the heads of 4
kings and Bishops, in order to give a form altogether new
as well to the Kingdom as to the Church ; — what would they
have answered ? They would have sworn, without doubt, with
their hands upon the volume of the new Gospel they carried
with them, that their thoughts were farther distant from these
intentions than the earth is from hell. And nevertheless it
is a thing no ways to be doubted of, and altogether apparent
at present, that Calvin, Martyr, and Bucer, and the Bishops
who admitted their Reformation, and the kings who au
thorized it, have brought in, by the maxims upon which it
is founded, not only the Protestants, but also the Brownists,
and the Independents. The Bishops that received this lie-
formation, saw not that it would engender the sect of the
Presbyterians, enemies to the Hierarchy of the Church, and
to all the order of its institutions, as well in its sendee as in
its government, and would ruin their authority in order to
abolish royalty itself. But neither did Calvin, nor Martyr,
nor Bucer, know any better, that from the maxims of their
Reformation would spring up necessarily the Brownists and
the Independents, who would ruin their Reformation by in
troducing an indifference concerning all opinion in religion,
[is' the This it is, Sir, which the history of what has happened in
which God the progress of this Reformation (the knowledge whereof your
fetchby0 Majesty at this present moment carries engraven in your heart
hasaP<^ ^7 very bitter feelings) represents unto our eyes, to the end
mitted to all the world may see its nature and genius by the effects of
happen.] ..„_.,_
its maxims. I will represent them, Sir, to the eyes of your
Majesty; and, by a demonstration so lively and evident, that
no reason can contradict it, you shall see, that the pain you
suffer, and under which your estate groans, is the true effect,
as it is the very punishment, of the sins your fathers com
mitted and transmitted unto you, then, when under the pre
text of this blind Reformation they abandoned the faith of
the Church and her communion. For it is after this manner
that the just vengeance of God punisheth sin by itself, and
that its own natural consequences become the punishment it
deserves. This religion, for which the Bishops, the kings,
AN EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. CXXvii
and the people forsook the Church, hath destroyed the
Bishops, and the kings, and reduced the people — without
Bishops, without kings, — to live without form of government,
and without discipline in religion, under the tyranny of a
monster, who, without being either king or Bishop, attributes
to himself all authority both in state and in religion. And
this, Sir, I set forth unto your Majesty to make you under
stand, that this terrible work of the Hand of God, which
afflicts you after this manner, is nevertheless a judgment of
His mercy for you : for you may see He sends you not this
trouble, but to make you perceive the sin, whereof it is the
offspring, in order to withdraw you from both the one and
the other, through the knowledge which He gives you of the
horror you should have for the cause, by the pain you experi
ence from its eifect. You shall see it, Sir, clearly enough, by
the consequents of the maxims, upon which the authors of
the Reformation, which your fathers embraced, have laid its
foundations.
The foundations of the Reformation of Calvin are laid upon [T
these two maxims, which he, and all those who, like himself,
have forsaken the Church, have delivered as indubitable to tl10 Re~
, , I'-ii formation
the people which have followed them. is founded.]
The first is, — That the Church was fallen into ruin and [I.]
desolation, by error in its faith, by idolatry in its service,
and by tyranny in its government.
The second, That to reform and re-establish it in its [II ]
original purity, the faith of its doctrine, of its service, and
of its government, was to be reduced to the only precepts
of the Scripture, of the sense whereof every believer ought
to be judge, for his own proper salvation, by the light of
the Holy Ghost which guides him.
They saw, that, unless they laid down these maxims as
grounds of reformation, they could not pretend for it any
which might oblige them to forsake the Church, that they
had a mind to leave, in order to frame a contrary party, and
make war against her. For they could not deny the Church
from which they separated, the title of the True Church,
unless by accusing it, as they have done, of error, idolatry,
and tyranny: and even when they had assumed that this
accuastion was true, they could not bring in the necessity of
CXXV111 THE VICTORY OF TRUTH j OR,
a separation from her, in order to accomplish their Reforma
tion, unless by excluding the authority of Tradition, and of
the judgment of the Church, and by reducing the rule of the
Reformation to the Scripture alone, interpreted by every
man's judgment.
[Their sue- Your Majesty, Sir, shall now see, that from those maxims,
come^ which the Bishops of your realm (already become schismatics) 5
quences.] received as the grounds of the Reformation which they ad
mitted, there was first of all formed the sect of Puritan-Pres
byterians against the Protestant-Episcopalians, who could not
stand against them upon the foundation of these maxims :
and that next to them the Brownists, who are more reformed
Puritans, did raise themselves upon the same foundations;
who have since begotten the Independents for the overthrow
of the Presbyterians, by the same reasons by which these
had overthrown the Protestants and Episcopacy, and with
Episcopacy Royalty itself : in such sort, that all this dreadful
disorder, which makes your Kingdoms to be a chaos of
lamentable confusion, wherein your authority finds itself
extinct, comes from these principles of reformation, which
are the natural source thereof.
[The That this is so, your Majesty, Sir, may clearly perceive.
Protestant When the Bishops consented to these principles of reforma-
Bishops.] tion^ tney a^ancioned by them the faith of the Catholic Church
concerning the Sacrifice of the Mass, concerning Transub-
stantiation in the Holy Eucharist, concerning the number
and virtue of the seven Sacraments, concerning Justification
by righteousness real and inherent in the faithful, and con
cerning their Merits, and the Invocation of Saints ; concern
ing Prayer for the Dead and Purgatory, concerning the au
thority of the Pope, and the adhering of all the faithful to the
See of St. Peter at Rome. But they retained, nevertheless,
the Episcopal dignity and authority, with a part of the
Liturgy and of the ceremonies of the Catholic Church.
[ThePuri- But the Puritan-Presbyterians have cast away all form
terians.] Y" of Hierarchy, and community of Liturgy and of ceremonies
with the Church of Rome, as pernicious remainders of the
Papal tyranny and idolatry, as they call them. That they
might oppose themselves, according to the first maxim of
their Reformation, to both of these, they have brought
AN EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C.
in a form of government altogether novel, and composed a
form of service altogether new. And thereupon they have
had so much advantage against the Protestants in combating
them upon the grounds of their common principles, and in
stirring up against them the people heated with the zeal of
reformation, that it was impossible for these to stand, if the
Puritans could but once be supported by the authority of
Parliament against the authority of the King, who was the
only support of the Protestant cause, and that not by reason
ing, but by command. For reasoning, by their principles,
was all for the Puritans against the Protestants. Could they,
without Tradition, and by the Holy Scripture alone, inter
preted by the judgment of every one, establish Episcopal
dignity, and its authority, with distinction and superiority of
power above the other Pastors and Ministers? They could
do so well enough, doubtless, by the authority of the Holy
Scripture, assisted by Tradition, which declares its lawful sense.
But in doing this, the victory which it gives them obligeth
them to consent likewise to the authority and primacy of the
Pope for the government of the Universal Church, as founded
in the primacy St. Peter received in the college of the
Apostles, as well for the form of the government of the Uni
versal Church, as for that of every particular Church, from
Avhence every Bishop derives his authority. It must needs
be, then, either that the Protestants abandon Episcopacy as
a seed of tyranny, and become Presbyterians ; or that, in
retaining it, they enter again into the communion of the
Pope, and of the Bishops who adhere to him. For it is quite
unnecessary to say here, that their divisioji alone makes it
impossible for them to stand, for the reason which the great
Bishop and JMartyr St. Cyprian gives to all Bishops, when he [DeUnitat.
declares the obligation under which they lie to ( retain firmly cyprian.ap'
the Unity of the Church by the indivisible Unity of Epi- °P-P-10'8-]
scopacy, whereof every one doth solidly possess his share/
whereupon he admonisheth them, that ' if any one shall
separate himself, it will happen unto him, as to a beam torn
from the body of the sun, which will have no more part,
through its division, in the unity of the light which dwells
in the body : as to a bough broken from the tree, which will
spring no more, having no more share in the sap which
BRAMHALL. li
CXXX THE VICTORY OF TRUTH ; OR,
abides in the trunk and in the root of the tree : as to a
rivulet cut off from the fountain, which will dry up, having
no more to do with the course of the water which runs from
the spring/ This it is, Sir, which your Bishops also cannot
avoid. It must needs be, that, being separated from the
Mother-Church, they be extinguished and vanish away and
disappear, as it has come to pass. It must needs be, that
their very punishment should be the natural consequence of
the ground itself of their error, — that their ^FORMATION
should make them lose their form.
[The But if the Puritans have had this advantage over the
Protestants by the common principles of their Reformation,
that which the same principles have given the Brownists, in c
accomplishing their separation from them, against the Puritans
of the Genevan discipline, in the more exact Purity, which
their spirit, as interpreter of the Scripture, suggests unto
them, is yet more great. Behold how they combat the one
party against the other, and the victory of the last. The
Puritans of the Genevan discipline have denned certain
Articles of Faith, and from them formed their Confession,
to which they oblige all those whom they receive into their
communion. But this law, which prescribes by authority a
common belief among all the communicants, cannot agree
with the judgment that every believer can and ought to
make of the sense of the Scriptures, by the assistance of the
Holy Ghost, according to the second common maxim of their
Reformation. For, if one supposes this true, no other autho
rity can bear rule over the conscience, nor prescribe it any
thing beyond the sentiments which the Spirit suggests to it
in the interpreting of the Scripture. And thereupon the
Brownists assail in turn the Presbyterians by all the same
authorities, upon which these have founded their authority to
separate themselves from the Church and renounce its deter
minations : and maintain, that to oblige the faith of faith
ful men to a formulary of confession, which can have no
other than a human authority, is to bring them anew under
the Papal tyranny, from which the Holy Ghost hath set them
free. Against this the Calvinists have no reply, which doth
not pierce their own bosom with their own hand, and which
* is not their own condemnation pronounced by their own lips.
AN EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. CXXxi
For they can answer nothing pertinently, if they do not bor
row the reasons the Church hath against themselves. So
God, perpetual Protector of His Church, causes her enemies
to pronounce her victory with their own mouths: whilst they,
that issued from the teeth and the mouth of the Serpent to [Rev. xvi.
make war upon her, do wage it among themselves, and kill 13-]
one another.
From these Brownists, as your Majesty, Sir, knows too [The inde-
well, are come the Independents, who have not arisen, but a
since the advantage the Puritan-Presbyterians had over the
Protestants by the authority of the Parliamentarians. It is
these that have produced this false prophet of blood and
slaughter, to end this last act of infernal reformation, which
he himself preaches to his Mussulmans with his sword in his
hand, after he hath broken the Cross, and changed the
Episcopal crozier into a murderer's axe. By this same spirit
of the Brownists, with which he hath been originally imbued,
using reasoning deduced from the fundamental maxims of
the reformation common to them all, he combats the Presby
terians with much more advantage than they had combated
the Protestants. Whence he promises himself to make them
all submit to his own opinion, which is an indifference of all
opinion in religion. And this will fall out without doubt
according to his own mind, if they will follow out the conse
quences of their own maxims ; upon the authority of which
he gives liberty to every man to believe and prophesy that
which they think the Spirit suggests to them. He thinks,
that in making these people, separated from the Church,
taste this unrestrained liberty of conscience, he shall rally all
these different sects into one body, to set them against the
Body of the Catholic Church, to the end he may destroy the
Pope, and the Bishops that guide her, and may exterminate
the kings that defend her. He calls this the great work of
God. He assures its success to all them that follow him, by
the revelation which he makes them believe God gives him at
his fasts, his prayers, and his reading of the Holy Scriptures.
And it is no marvel he can assemble such a number of fol
lowers by reasoning upon their maxims ; for, after that they
had already produced these different bodies of battalions,
reformed and reforming, even to infinity, Protestants, Pres-
k2
CXXXli THE VICTORY OF TRUTH ; OR,
byterians, and Brownists, who in a perpetual war could never
agree among themselves, he comes over and above them all,
as more skilful still, to avail himself of their maxims, in
order to part the fray between them by indifference, and by
abolishing all laws that rule the conscience ; leaving as he
does to every one freedom of opinion, and liberty to prophesy
and interpret the Scriptures according to the sense his spirit
dictates to him. For, as to the rest, he does not take the
trouble to see, by this spirit, the prodigious number of sects
and insects swarming about, who daily vomit forth more
monstrous opinions than can come from the bottomless pit.
Let there be what difference there will among them, they all
agree in his indifference.
[The mercy By this catastrophe of the Reformation, which those have
thu^dlsl" undertaken that have divided the Church in these later ages,
playing the you see g^. w}iat hatn been both its design and its genius.
true cha- J
racterof It is not I that represent the truth of the matter to you;
God hath set it before your eyes, or, I may rather say, in your
heart, written in characters which shall never be blotted out
quences.] from yOlir memory. And to write them with His own finger, 7
He Himself hath descended from Heaven, environed with the
fire and thunder of His anger, which is visibly inflamed
against you. But from the midst thereof you hear the voice
of His mercy, recalling you to Him, and declaring to you,
that He hath done all this to let you know the sin of your
fathers, and to draw you out of it, that He may call you
back into His Church, where all benediction shall be given
you. For true piety and religion, whereof she hath been
made the depositary, find in her (as the Apostle speaks) ' the
£i Tim. iv. promises of the present life, and of that which is to come;'
and your faith, which God desires to work in you by the
virtue of the Cross through the affliction wherein you now
are, submitting all your desires to the wisdom of His counsel
and power of His might, shall meet in her with the comfort of
your patience, conformable to the hope you shall have put in
Him. You will say then, Sir, when you consider yourself
and the work that God shall have wrought in you, — How
[Rom. xi. fathomless is the wisdom of the judgments of God ! How
difficult is the knowledge thereof ! How hidden is- the
reason thereof ! How impossible to find it out, if He Himself
AN
EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. CXXxiii
doth not manifest it ! He doth manifest it to you, Sir, and
you may see it, if you consider the great abyss that was before-
time between you and God; how far you were withdrawn
from Him, before He came to you after this manner, and dreAv
Himself near to you, that He might draw you to Him.
Whilst the King your father had the crown upon his head, CIts dpceit
and was sitting upon his throne in the midst of his flourish- manifest.f
ing Kingdoms, in the abundance of all prosperity and glory;
and whilst you, heir to this majesty and royal pomp, were feed
ing your spirit, among all these mundane delights, with the
desire and hope of equalling the lustre of your grandfathers
by the splendour of the brave actions, wherewith your politic
and military virtues should adorn your life and the history
of your reign ; how could it have come to pass, that, while all
the reasons of state, as well as those with which alone your
conscience had been instructed, kept you engaged in this
new religion, the error whereof you have sucked in with the
milk of your infancy, your eyes and your ears should have
been capable of seeing and hearing the truths which now
make known to you its guilt, and the condemnation, which
God by the wisdom and power of His judgments hath drawn
from itself and from its natural consequences, to make you
feel its effects ? How should you have been able to have
discovered under this fair show of reformation, whereof it
hath taken the title; under this splendid lustre which it
hath put upon its face, of knowledge and eloquence, the gifts
whereof shine in its Doctors and Ministers ; of the reading,
and particular regard it commands them to have towards
the Holy Scriptures; of the familiar texts, which adorn its
Pastors' discourses and preachings : of the popular exercises
of its Psalms and of its Canticles ; of the Prayers and Orisons
which are extracted and interwoven with it, together with
that understanding of them, which imparts their consolation :
— should you have been able, I say, to have discovered, that
' under this appearance of piety it had denied the power [2 Tim. iii.
thereof/ if God had not now made you see this in the works °'
of horror and confusion, deadly to Christian piety and charity,
destructive to all form of religion, enemies to all order of
God, which it hath produced by the consequences of its fun
damental maxims ? Would your Majesty, Sir, have detected
CXXXW THE VICTORY OF TRUTH j OR,
[Johnviii. the imposture and deceit which ' the father of lies' hath
hidden under these baits ; which they themselves, whom he
made the first instruments and authors of the division of the
Church, did not perceive, and would have abhorred it had
they known it would have been such ?
[its ori- Here then truly is the great work of God, whereof this
ProPnet understands not the reason, when he speaks of
convicted ft thus. God hath certainly done this work. And God hath
tormina- raised up himself, to put this confusion among those who
dependen- have forsaken the unity of the Church in dividing themselves
cy-J into a thousand sects, of which they acknowledge now that
no one can call itself the Church. For the sect of the Pro
testants cannot pretend thereto, since it no more even sub
sists : but one sees it to have justly perished by the very
same maxims that separated it from the Church ; and that
the Presbyterians, which seduced it therefrom, have now de
stroyed it. Nor the sect of the Presbyterians; — which is
under the yoke of the Independents, who cut its throat with
the same sword wherewith itself warred against the Church :
for they reduce it, by its own maxims, to renounce all disci
pline, all government, all law, and all rule of unity, and by
[Gen. ix. consequence all form of the Church. This cursed Ham then
•21, 22.] kath discovered the filthiness of his father, that is to say, of
the first author of this pretended Reformation, who being
drunk with the wine of his error did not himself know it. i
But, if God pleases, the impudence of this brazen face, who
hath lost all modesty, being not afraid to discover, by his In
dependence, the foundations of this preposterous Reformation,
shall now touch his brethren with compunction and shame,
that they may turn their back upon their common father.
He will cause the Presbyterians and Protestants to under
stand, that it was the spirit of senselessness and error, which
made Luther conceive and undertake the design of dividing
the Church, under pretext of a false reformation. And
thence they will perceive (if they can but come to themselves)
that men neither ought to desire, nor are able truly or legi
timately, to accomplish a reformation, unless in the union and
by the consent of the Church, and by the rule of Tradition,
which she hath received from the Apostles, and preserved by
a continued succession.
AN EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. CXXXV
As God, Sir,, draws light out of darkness, so your Majesty [This con-
sees, that out of your calamity He makes your salvation to more plain
come. But this is not for your good alone. That which He S^gjl"
designs to do in your person, He designs to do in all your la"d> the°
-f-r. •, principal
Kingdoms by your person ; and not only in all your King- sanctuary
doms, but in all places, and towards all those, who are forma-110
separated from the Church, as your Kingdoms are. That tion^
which is peculiar to yourself in this matter, is, that, being
the greatest King of the party divided from the Church, and
your Kingdoms the greatest and most nourishing estate that
hath received this novel religion, where it hath found its
most powerful sanctuary, and where it hath planted its most
eminent and most assured abode ; they are likewise the very
place where God hath brought it into this confusion, in de
stroying it by the different sects which it hath itself there
engendered, that all the world may know the spirit of error,
whence it hath taken its original. For all the world at pre
sent sees what is this spirit, and its nature : whether it is
the Spirit of Christ, the spirit of peace and truth; or the
Spirit of Satan, the spirit of trouble and error ; which hath
raised the trouble and error that rules at present in your
Kingdoms.
Since, then, such is the spirit of this new Reformation, and [The Re-
r» • , - • i •> -i • i i ' j formation,
of its maxims ; since such are its consequences, which have at being seif-
this day discovered it, and made it evident : who is that man necessarily
that can defend it ? that can retain it in his conscience ? that heretical- ]
can have repose and comfort in his soul, while adhering to it ?
There is no more need of disputations or arguments to con
fute it ; it is confuted by itself, — according to the character
by which the Spirit of God marks out to us the heretic
through the pen of the Apostle St. Paul, who commands
us to depart from such for these reasons ; " He has," saith [Tit. m. 10,
he, " a perverted spirit, he is condemned by himself." This 1L Vl
is the image that all the world doth see at present in this
Reformation, and in its genius.
There remains, however, one thing still to do, in order to [2.Thetrue
apply this remedy of salvation to the conscience of the people these evils-.
whom this error hath seduced. There is no more needed maiiifesta-
than to anoint the wound the scorpion hath made, with the ^{Jiic^on
oil wherein it hath been bruised. For the way to heal them ference, bf
CXXXVI THE VICTORY Oi1 TRUTH ; OR,
the two is now very easy, by reason their Reformation hath received
fnThich1^ such a miserable success. There is nothing more easy, under
formation these circumstances, than to make the people perceive, by
victed" "°n" tlie refutation °f tneir Pastors up°n tne yerv grounds and
[Firet.] maxims of their Reformation, that they have neither Church
nor Faith ; that, whilst they have supposed (contrary to the
[Matf. xvi. promise of Jesus Christ) that the Church was fallen into
ruin, they have not been able under pretence of reforming
her to form another, which should possess the conditions of
the true Church, but only an infinity of sects, diverse and
mutually contradictory, none of which can be the Church ;
that, in rejecting the authority of Tradition as interpreter of
the Scripture, and the judgment of the Church as the decla
ration of their Faith, they have abandoned the unity of the
Faith, in order each one to rest conceitedly in his own senti
ments, through the different opinions they have conceived;
conduct, which of necessity must bring them, as has actually
come to pass, into an independence of all rule, and an in
difference towards all opinion in religion.
[Second.] And as the being ashamed to accuse the Church of error
in all ages, hath from the beginning caused the authors of
this reformation to allow, that the Church remained pure in
faith during the time of the four first general Councils ; they
have afforded us a way by this to disabuse the people, whom
they do abuse, wlien they accuse the Church at this day of
error in the heads of her faith, which they have rejected.
For they can no longer avoid falling into a manifest incon- 9
sistency touching the sentiments which they impute to the
ancient Fathers in those points of faith, which are in contro
versy between us. They cannot brand the Church at this
day with holding a different opinion in faith from the ancient
Church, without cutting their own throats with their own in
consistencies upon the opinions which they attribute to the
Fathers.
There is then nothing more to do for the informing the
people, that are separated from the Church, of the truth, and
for the obliging them to enter again into her communion,
than to make them understand the cheat wherewith they have
been surprised under the name of reformation, by convicting
their ministers, in their presence, of an evident inconsistency
AN EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. CXXXvil
with themselves, by the consequences of the fundamental
maxims of their Reformation : from whence results an indu
bitable demonstration, that it proceeds from the spirit of lying
and error.
If it please your Majesty, Sir, to employ this way for your [Such a
instruction, and the satisfaction of your conscience, that your easy Under
conversion and return to the Church may both open the Pfesent
J circum-
hearts, and the way, for all the rest to follow your example, stances.]
you cannot do it more solemnly, or more commodiously,
than in the place wherein you are at present. We have in [Paris.]
this place cfive ministers of the communion that is separated
from the Catholic Church, who have gotten themselves as
much credit and authority, through their esteem for compe
tency and reputation for zeal, as any others in their whole
body. Your Majesty, Sir, may easily obtain of the King
your good brother and friend, that they be called, by his
authority, to come (with all those of their communion with
whom they would be assisted) and appear in presence of
Monsieur the Archbishop of Paris, and Monsieur his Coad
jutor, and the Catholic doctors, whom they shall please to
bring with them : and there, Sir, your Majesty being pre
sent, to speak and answer, with all security and liberty,
whatever their wit and their conscience may suggest to
them upon the evident inconsistencies between the principles
and the consequences of their Reformation ; inconsistencies,
which prove against them, that, in all their different sects
which have forsaken the Church under this pretext, there is
neither Church nor Faith ; and that upon the points of
Faith, wherein they have accused the Church of error, and
thereupon have taken occasion to separate themselves from
her, they have equally separated themselves from the com
munion of the Church of all ages : so that they cannot even
accuse us of diversity of opinion from the ancient Church,
without falling yet again into an evident inconsistency
c [At the date of the original publi- Mestrezat. See the list of the Reformed
cation of the 'Victory of Truth' (A.D. Ministers and Churches in France, pre-
1651), and for some time previous, the sented to the Synod of Alencon A. D.
pastors of the Calvinist congregation at 1037, in Quicke's "Synodicon in Gallia,
Charenton (near Paris), then five in lleformata," vol. ii. p. 386, — the article
number, were MM. Edmund Aubertin, upon Le Faucheur in Quicke, ibid.
Jean Daille, Charles Drelincourt the p. 318, — and his Life with those of the
elder, Michel Le Faucheur, and Jean other ministers above named in Bayle.]
CXXXV111
THE VICTORY OF TRUTH ; Oil,
[The Pro
testant
ministers
cannot
either
honestly,]
[or effectu
ally,]
[and there
fore proba
bly will not,
refuse to
assist at it. j
[Whatso
ever they
do, the
conversion
of the
King, and,
through
with themselves, as well as with the ancient Fathers, and
with us.
These ministers, Sir, will not be able to refuse consent
either to the desire of your Majesty, or to the commandment
of the King your good brother, to do their duty both to their
charge and to their conscience, without witnessing by their
refusal the open abandonment which they make of their cause,
and the condemnation which they themselves pronounce of
it in their hearts. But they will choose (as I think) rather to
present themselves ingenuously, in order to yield to the
truth which they cannot contradict, than to incur the blame
of being acknowledged formal enemies of the peace and re
union of the Church, through the perverseness of an obstinate
faith. I know not how to believe, that they wrould love
rather to fling themselves headlong, with their people, into the
confusion and disorder of independency, and indifference of
all opinion in religion, than to acknowledge the error and
blindness of those who were the first egressors from the
Church by these maxims, and who have cast their followers,
by the consequences of them, into this abyss of irreligion,
whereinto we see them at this present time fallen. And
should the ministers allow themselves to be carried astray into
so perverse a thought, I do no ways believe that in France
the people would follow them, and adhere to their opinions.
For this reason it is, Sir, that I dare to hope that the
ministers who are in Paris, being obliged by the desire of
your Majesty, and the will of their Sovereign, to submit to
this law, which their own conscience imposes on them for the
satisfaction of their own people (for the people will have no
less zeal, and will be no less desirous, to see the success of
the appearance of their ministers, and of the answer which
they shall have it in their power to make), will yield to it,
and will choose rather by so doing to walk in the way of
honour and good conscience, than basely to appear deserters,
at one and the same time, both of their cause, and of good
faith.
Whatsoever comes to pass, Sir, and whatsoever they do, 10
whether they follow the motion of the Spirit of Peace and
Truth, or whether the Spirit of Pride suggests unto them to
avoid and fly both the one and the other; your Majesty will
AN EPISTLE OF M. DE LA. M1LLETIERE, &C. CXXX1X
in every case have the full satisfaction of departing from the i»m. of ail
error,, which you shall see forsaken or condemned by its own separated
ministers ; and of entering into the Church, which is the JS^JS?
"Pillar of Truth/' and the "Rock of Ages/' against which you saniy foi-
see all the vessels of different sects, running before every wind [i fim. iii.
of doctrine, through the trickery of them that conduct them, XxVi. 4?'
break themselves and make shipwreck. And then, when
your Majesty shall have entered into the Church after this
manner, and when all the world shall see, that the desire to
glorify God by searching for the truth, by the repose of
your conscience, and by love of your salvation, shall have
been your whole motive therein • you need not doubt, Sir,
but that your example will make the like impression in all
those, whose souls are touched with the fear of God, but whom
the treacherous semblance of piety retains in the error, that
has assumed its mask. You need not doubt, Sir, but that,
for so much as God hath elevated your Majesty in birth and
eminent dignity above the rest that are in the communion
wherein you have lived, they all, seeing these circumstances
of your change and entrance into the Sanctuary of the
Church upon the wings of the victory of truth, which alone
carries you thither, will be stirred up to give glory to God
for the same reasons for which you will have rendered it
to Him.
It concerns you then, Sir, to make your entrance by this
path, and to avail yourself of this means to make your way
thither, to the end your conversion and return to the Church
bring to her, with you, by this solemn conviction of the error
which hath dismembered her, not only the nations which the
division of your fathers hath torn from her, but also all the
rest whom a similar cause hath separated. For by the power,
which truth hath upon the conscience of men when it is
apparent, there is no doubt but it will come to pass after this
manner. When the people shall see that the ministers, when
summoned into the presence of your Majesty, either by their
avowal of the truth, or by their refusal to appear, shall have
been themselves the ministers of your conversion, every one
will enter upon the examination of the causes and reasons of
the truth, that has persuaded you thereto, which will have
no less power to make a like impression upon their souls by
Cxi THE VICTORY OF TRUTH ; OR,
the same means. For whether the ministers do sincerely
yield to the truth, which they will not know how to contra
dict, or whether they condemn themselves by their rejection
of an ingenuous mode of procedure, the event of their con
vocation will be alike and universal in all places, where the
same way to call back the people to the Church shall be
practised : — there are no ministers in France will know what
to answer, where those of Paris shall be dumb ; — no others
will dispute precedence with them concerning competency. —
But if they are wanting in the duty of a good conscience,
you may easily meet many more ingenuous, who will not
refuse to acknowledge the truth. By this way the people,
who seek nothing but their salvation, and who have no in
terest more precious, will be ravished to see themselves in
consequence, by a plain, solid, and sincere instruction upon
the true understanding of the subjects of the Catholic faith,
drawn out of this labyrinth of disputes, which are given them
as matter of reformation, but are no less enemies to piety
than to Christian charity.
[The ac- For this purpose, Sir, — desiring to be assisting to the de-
ing treatise sign of making the people see, by the conviction of their
Author's, ministers, that, being separated from the Church under this
fh^mode Pre^ex^ °f reformation, they are left by that means without
ofargu- Faith and without Church; and that, wiien one persuades
commend- them, that in the controverted questions of Faith the present
ed'toVur- " Church teaches contrary to what the ancient Church hath
believed, those that accuse her of so doing cannot do it but
by a formal contradicting both of the Holy Fathers and of
themselves, which is an inevitable proof of falsehood and
error: — I here put forth into the light a little treatise d,
wherein these two truths are rendered evident.
d ["La Victoire de la Verite pour la dente Demonstration, pour faire voir
Paix de 1'Eglise, au Roy de la Grande aux Protestans qu'ils ont ny 1'Eglise
Bietagne. Pour corivier Sa Majeste ny la Foy." A second letter to the
d'embrasser la Toy Catholique. Par King is added at the end of the vo-
M. de la Milletiere, Conseiller Ordi- lume in the copy which is in the Bod-
iiaire du Roy en ses Conseils." Paris leian Library, but does not appear to
1651 : — of which this Epistle formedthe have formed part of the original work,
Dedication, and which consisted besides as neither Bramhall, nor La Milletiere
of a treatise " Sur la Controverse de la in the preceding parts, take any notice
Transubstantiation decidee par le pro- of it ; it is entitled " Second Discovirs,
pre glaive dont le Ministre Aubertin a Politique, Chrestien, et Catholique.
coupe la gorge a son heresie en son Au Roy de la Grande Bretagne, pour
'Anatomic'," and a "Brieve et Evi- representer a Sa Majeste, qu' etant
AN EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. Cxll
They have undertaken no controversy of greater import- [its
ance, according to their own opinion, than that of Transub- ject^
stantiation in the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. They Jfoftf
accuse us of having introduced, by the truth of this change,
the necessity of adoring Jesus Christ in this Sacrament, or
this Sacrament, which we maintain to be Jesus Christ
Himself. They impute unto us, that in this we have altered
the faith of the ancient Church, to which, they say, both this
change, and the adoration of the Sacrament, have been un-
11 known. They make this the principal cause, nay, even the
only necessary cause of their separation from us. And being
unable to deny, that the whole ancient Church did solemnly
offer the Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ to
God His Father, according to His institution, in the Holy
Eucharist, they cloak further their difference upon this sub
ject from the ancient Church, and from us, with this, that
the ancient Church did not believe (as they presume) Tran-
substantiation with us, nor by consequence the Sacrifice, as
we do; saying that, upon this subject, as they reject what
we believe of Transub stantiation, so they have for the same
reason abolished likewise the Sacrifice, which the Church at
this present time celebrates.
I have made it evident, Sir, that the Eaith of the Church at [Summary
this day is conformable to the ancient concerning this change,
in a book6, which I have published upon the subject, against
the defences brought by minister Aubertin upon the passages step.]
Catholique il rentrera dans ses etats, et tie de 1'Ancienne Eglise." Its positions
qu'il n'y rentrera jamais autrement." were assailed by La Milletiere in a trea-
No place or date; but written before tise entitled " La Paixde 1'Englisefon-
Cromwell was recognised by France as dee sur la Verite de la Foi Catholique
Protector, i. e. not later than A. D. pour la Transubstantiation au S. Sacre-
1654. The author's right and full ment de 1'Eucharistie, ou toutes les re
name, as it appears in the title-pages of spouses et les objections du Sieur An-
his other works, is Theophile Brachet, bertin en son livre de 1'Eucharistie
Sieur de la Milletiere. The erroneous sont refutees." Paris 1646. (Nice-
spelling — Militiere, which exists in all ron, Memoires, &c. &c. torn. xli. artic.
the separate editions of Bramhall's Milletiere) ; to which Aubertin replied
Answer that the Editor has seen, as well in his "Anatomic du livre publie par
as in the folio edition of his Works, ap- Le Sieur de la Milletiere pour la Tran-
pears to have originated with Bramhall substantiation." Charenton 1648, —
himself, as it is employed by him in all published without name, but from its
his other treatises wherein he has occa- contents obviously Aubertin's, and
sion to mention his name.] spoken of as his by Niceron (Memoires
e [The original French edition of M. &c. &c. artic. Aubertin, torn, xxxvi. p.
AubertinDeEucharistia was published 14.) and by La Milletiere himself in
in 1633, under the title of " L'Eucharis- his "Victoirecle la Verite" — title-page.]
Cxlii THE VICTORY OF TRUTH ; OR,
of the holy Fathers in his book of the Eucharist. I have- re
duced the demonstration of this truth to this point, viz.
that all the holy Fathers have believed, that by the change,
which intervenes in this Sacrament, it is rendered the same
Flesh and the same Blood of Jesus Christ, received by the
[John vi. mouths of believers, whereof Jesus Christ speaks in St. John,
where he commands us to ' eat and drink them, that we may
have eternal life/ This minister hath not been able to con
tradict this truth, except in formally contradicting the sense,
which the authors of his opinion, before him, have attributed
to the Fathers, as conformable to their own, and in making
the sense of the Fathers formally contrary to that of Jesus
Christ, and that which he attributes to them formally con
trary to the true sense which they bear, and which they
[Second enounce in clear and express words. I have convinced him
step.] 0£ ^s ^ tjie proof Of an eYident demonstration in this little
treatise f; and if he be called upon to reply to this conviction,
the truth will be found to be victorious, either by his good or
by his bad faith. But, — as their consciences continually tell
them, and prick them for having introduced, by their Re
formation, an equal contrariety in all opinions to the Faith of
the Church of all ages, — when they see themselves reduced to
this extremity, they throw themselves into the intrenchment
of their fundamental maxims, admitting, namely, of no Rule
of Faith, but that of the Scripture interpreted by every man's
[Third reason. Upon that I have convinced them by a demonstra-
tionS without reply, that by the scheme of their Reformation,
founded upon the use of this rule, they have lost for them
selves both the Church and the Faith. And this they must
acknowledge if they be called to answer thereto, or, if not,
the truth will preserve its advantage by the rejection they
will make of it.
I most humbly entreat your Majesty, Sir, that you will be
pleased to let this little work have the glory to appear to the
world under your august name, for a prop which will be able
to aid your faith, as an instrument of the truth, the victory
{ [The discourse upon Transubstaii- stration, &c." above mentioned as
tiation, which formed the first and larger subjoined to the " Victoire de la Ve-
part of the " Victoire de la Verite."] rite."]
8 [The " Brieve et Evidente Demon-
AN EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. Cxliii
whereof ought happily to gain you to the Church ; and, by
gaining you thereto,, to bring with you her peace, and the
re-union to her of all the parties that are divided from her.
For assuredly this grace of Heaven is not far from us, if we
ourselves do not draw back from it.
And I am certain, that if it please the prudence of the [Probable
Bishops, whom the Holy Ghost hath established for the 1°^ ofthe
guidance of the Church (as I hope well that it will please £™fe,:sed
them), to avail themselves, towards the people that have en(>e-]
abandoned their Crosier, of the way that I propose and pre
sent to your Majesty; they will see, without much trouble,
and in a little time, the strayed sheep returning to them, by
the very hand of those who keep them withdrawn from their
sheep-folds. For in effect, when the evidence of this demon
strated truth shall once have established itself (by the sweet
ness of the amicable conferences, wherein it ought to be
handled with all sincerity and liberty) in the spirit of all our
separated brethren, as well ministers as people, they will con
sent with joy to re-enter into the Catholic Church. And so
much the more willingly, that, for the same reasons which
support the truth of her Faith, when acknowledged conform
ably to the Tradition of all ages, they will acknowledge her
also, in all her parts, to be the true Seed from which the
Holy Spirit hath caused piety and charity to spring, flourish,
and fructify in believers. From whence it follows for the
same reason, that the true and legitimate reformation, which
all good people in the Church desire in the Church, doth de
pend upon nothing else than the understanding and practice
of these same truths, by the duty which they point out to all
believers in the different vocations whereto God calls them :
12 in all which [vocations] the end that is proposed them, is no
other, than to live united among themselves and with Jesus
Christ by the grace of the Holy Ghost, in order to serve God
under the obedience of the government which He hath put
into the hands of the Bishops, who feed the Flock with an
unanimous consent under the authority of the single Chair
of St. Peter, established at Borne by the two Coryphaei of the
Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, from which whosoever
separates himself, is a schismatic and out of the communion
of the Church.
THE VICTORY OF TRUTH j OR,
[The con- Upon this, Sir. I take courage to say, in conclusion, to
version of .
the King, your Majesty, that,, as you may if you will, by the way which
through I propose to you, lay the foundation of this work by your
^Ejects1"8 conversion and entrance into the Catholic Church,, so you
?he meats W^ fincl' that its success wiU °e, in tne Hand of God, the in
to his re- dubitable way of re-establishing you in your throne. Cer-
'-* tainly all will agree with me, that this work is of such a
kind, that if it had received its accomplishment in Paris, with
the ministers and people separated from the Church, there
is no place in all France wherein they would refuse to do
the like. And if once the love of peace, and of the re-union
of the Church, had thus gained the heart of our separated
brethren who are in this kingdom, they in this manner
acknowledging that the only wholesome and necessary re
formation would be that, which by the truth of the definitions
of the Faith of the Church, in her doctrine, in her service,
and in her government, should re-establish a Christian life
among Christians ; the other people and pastors (and the
pastors for the love, and by the instigation, of the people
themselves), who are in the same communion in other parts
of Europe, will without doubt do the same thing. Think
you, Sir, that if your subjects of Scotland, and those who are
in England and Ireland, faithful and affectionate to your
crown and person, were to see the success that had attended
this project in France, to which your conversion had given
its beginning and its motion, they would resist the call of
the same grace ? and that they could find in their hearts, in
their mouths, and in their hands, either reason, or means, to
hinder themselves from following that which all those of their
[as a re- communion had done here ? And after this will you doubt,
fr°omPGoSd's but that tlie blessing of God, Who is never wanting to His
cord%*C~ Pronnses; wu^ accomplish in you fully that which He hath
His prS- promised to all who believe in Him by the mouth of His
"Mat. vi. Own Son, when He tells them, " Seek the Kingdom of God
and His righteousness, and all things shall be added unto
you?" Will you doubt, but that in thus seeking His King
dom, you will find also your own? And that Heaven will
render unto you, even upon earth, this temporal recompense,
for a token of that which you shall have sought, and which
you shall receive, in Heaven for eternity ?
AN EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C.
Yes, Sir, the word of God deceives no man; it is more [The past
firm and immoveable than the heaven and the earth ; for ' the {he icIng^s
one and the other shall vanish away, but one single iota of *ff* irsab]
the words uttered from the mouth of the Son of God, shall to this;]
not pass away/ When I tell you these things, founded as J^*^'
they are upon the truth which He hath spoken unto us, xxi- 33-l
believe that it is He Himself that addresses them to you by
my mouth. It is He Himself that calls you. It is He Him
self that stretcheth forth His Hand towards you. It is He
Himself that by His Hand hath conducted you, for this end,
to the place where you are. Re-consider with yourself all
the thoughts of your heart, since the time your Majesty
parted from hence, to the time you returned. Think upon
all that you have wished to do, and upon all that it hath
pleased God to do with you; for He hath done every
thing, both of what you see, and of what you suffer, to your
person, and to your estate. He hath put you into the estate
in which you are, to make you understand His voice, and
to oblige you to say to Him, " Lord, what wilt Thou that [Actsix.a]
I do?"
You have thought you would be able to re-mount your [in the
throne by means of those of your subjects, who appeared to ofhisScot-
retain for you, and for your crown, that fidelity to which a ^om^hidi
more ancient bond held them obliged more straitly than all involved a
the others. God would not have it so. They had a design the Cove-
to bind your conscience to the laws of their reformation, by nt
the oath to observe the conditions of their Covenant, and
by the abjuration of those among your opinions, that ap
proached more nearly to the Catholic religion. They hoped
by this means, that in preserving upon your head some
form, at least in appearance, of the Royal government,
under which they had so happily obeyed your fathers for
13 so many ages, they should avoid falling under the slavery
of the tyranny which is called Cromwell's Commonwealth ;
and that they should hinder by this means the factious
ness of their religion from giving place to his Independency.
What has it come to? God hath " blown upon" all their [Hagg.i.a]
counsels. He hath routed all their armies by the arm
of this false prophet, by whose mouth He convicts and
confounds, in the face of their ministers, by mouth and by
BRAMIIALL. 1
THE VICTORY OF TRUTH; OR,
writing h, the rules of their Covenant by the very maxims of
their reformation. God hath delivered them into his hands,
and imposed upon them the yoke of his absolute domination.
They must now submit to the laws of his Independency, and
of his Commonwealth, the name whereof serves for a mask
to his tyranny.
[in the But God hath delivered you, Sir, therefrom ; and by an
deliver- instance of His Providential guidance, full of awe and
wonder, He hath withdrawn your sacred person from a
son-!f thousand dangers, wherewith it was threatened by the fury
and cruelty of this monster, who spared neither the strength
of iron, nor the preciousness of gold, to find the means of
violently taking away your life. You have seen, Sir, descend
upon your head, the anger of God, Who, in the phrase of
[Jobxius. Scripture, "looseth the belt of kings, and binds their reins
with thongs." You have seen His arm, armed with His
rage, defeat your armies. Combating at their head, you
have done bravely, with your hand and with your courage,
all that the generosity of a valiant and magnanimous
prince could do, to associate victory with the justice of
your arms. You have there shed your own blood, and seen
that of your faithful subjects stream through the fields
strewn with their bodies. Your valour, and their unfearful
hearts, had for a time gotten the advantage of the great
number of your enemies, who found themselves on the point
of turning their backs; but the chance of arms turning
in an instant to their side, this ill-hap, fatal to your crown,
ravished from you in this last conflict, according to human
appearance, both the means and the hope of recovering
[isa. iv.s.] it1. But God hath means unknown to men, and "His
ways are not our ways." It is in our weakness that He
magnifies His strength, and in our lowliness that He makes
His height to be seen. Then, when He had thus deprived
you of your forces, and had stripped you of all human means
of safety, He came to you with another countenance, and
h [The letters of Cromwell to the Milletiere might have seen them in
Scotch ministers, &c. (Thurloe's State 1651.]
Papers, vol. i. pp. 158, &c.), were printed * [Compare Clarendon's account of
in Edinburgh A. D. 1650, immediately the battle of Worcester, Hist, of the
after the battle of Dunbar, so that La Rebell., bk. xiii. vol. iii. pp. 527, 528.]
AN EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. Cxlvii
armed you with a sense, a hardiness, and a resolution, which
were above the spirit of a man, to support you in the plan
which you made choice of for your security. You resolved
to seek it by exposing yourself alone in the solitariness of
the ways, and in the desert of the forests, to the hazard of
a thousand sad accidents; after you had hidden all the
marks of that majesty, which is born with you, under a form
borrowed from the most base condition, that the eyes of the
people, which owe you after God the second homage, might
not know who you truly were. You have passed after this
manner, without astonishment, and without fear, across a
thousand objects, whicli at every step presented their images
to your mind. It is there, that you have perceived that
God had encamped His Angels about you, for your guard,
and for your defence. It is there, that He has made of a
simple peasant and an infirm woman, the very Angels of
His assistance, that He might be your guide ; giving to the
simplicity of the one, and to the frailty of the other, the
prudence and the resolution necessary to conduct you, with
as much judgment as integrity, and to bring you — as a
stranger, and one unknown, the object of every man's con
tempt and neglect, — into the capital city of your ancestors'
inheritance. It is there, that, when you had reason to
fear (on account of the orders set forth against your life,
and for your discovery) the meeting so many faces looking
upon yours, the Hand of God hath held the eyes of all those
who would have had the heart to hurt you ; and He hath
opened them, so as to recognise you, to him alone, who,
without being anticipated either by your foresight or by your
expectation, became the Angel of your guidance, to make
you cross the seas and descend upon our shores, and to
restore you again to the eyes of the Queen your dear mother,
to whom your presence hath caused a greater cessation of
grief and a greater increase of joy, than happened at your
birth k.
God hath then after this manner, Sir, made you to return
k [This rhetorical account of the from that given by Clarendon,— Hist
King's escape is apparently founded of the Rebell., bk. xiii. vol. iii. pp. 533.
upon a different version of the facts 550.]
THE VICTORY OF TRUTH j OR,
[His tem- hither into the bosom, wherein your Majesty began your life,
to iite re?1 to tne end He may sive y°u a new life ky y°ur being bom
rieranc?— agam mto the spiritual bosom of your Eternal Mother. You
enforced see the guidance and the counsel of God, who calls you to
of hisete rS Him by a call so marvellous, having heard the prayers and
Queenr' vows, the sighs and tears, of this Catholic princess, to give
Henrietta,] ner £he jov of seeing you rendered a partaker of the greatest 14
blessing that she hath received from God, and which she
hath unceasingly implored for you ever since your birth.
Daughter, as she is, of the Great Henry, the glory of the
most Christian Kings, she implores of God for you the in
heritance of that grace which he received from His hand,
Who caused him at one and the same time both to enter the
Church, and to obtain his throne. Her faith implores it,
her patience hopes it, and her piety will obtain it. This is
the consolation she sighs after, to restore her from so many
bitter afflictions, which she hath sucked in drop by drop,
and which the Hand of God hath poured upon her, in His
Son's Chalice, by which He proves the constancy of those
who love Him.
[by the To the tears of this desolate Princess, I add, Sir, the inno-
martyrdom ^^ ^^ poured out before God by the King your father,
father, whOm I think I may be able without fear to style blessed.
Charles FOr, if we look upon the cause of his death, he hath been
persecuted and cruelly slain, when he was able to a^oid the
one and the other from the hands of his enemies, if he would
have submitted his conscience to 'their Covenant, and con
sented to the abolition of Episcopacy. But he hath loved
rather to glorify God by the confession of a good conscience,
and for the support of a dignity which he hath believed to
have been instituted by God, according to the opinion of the
Catholic Faith. Certainly we ought to believe, that it is to
this Faith, which he hath preferred before the greatest things
in the world, to which we must ascribe, and acknowledge for
the fruits thereof, the piety, the humility, the patience, the
constancy, the resignation to the Will of God, the submission
even to that of men for the love of God, which we have seen
in him, and which his persecution, his suffering, his prison,
his unworthy treatment, his trial as a criminal, his degrada
tion, his condemnation, the horror and the cruelty of his
AN EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. Cxlix
punishment, like to which the sun did never yet see an
example on the earth, have rendered more illustrious and
more bright-shining than the light of the sun itself. We
may say, that the firmness of this faith hath been in his
heart a secret work of God, to re-unite him, in this trial of
the last moments of his life, to His Catholic Church, to
the number of His faithful Elect, 'many of whom' (saith
St. Augustin) ' invisibly belong to the Church, though they [De Bapt.
are not rendered members of it visibly/ And we ought
to believe, that this Crown, which he hath gained by the
constancy of his faith, hath been woven for him by the Hands F-l
of Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, hearing with favour the
prayer and intercession of the blessed Queen his grand
mother, who hath in the same manner shed her blood, and
given up her soul into the hands of God, by one and the same
punishment, with a faith and constancy not to be imitated,
for the Catholic faith, which was the one primary cause of
the hatred and persecution she received from her people, and
from her most near kinswoman, the succession of whose
crown belonged to her. For the prayer of the blessed Mar
tyrs in Heaven tends to obtain continually of God, by Jesus
Christ, the fulfilment of the same grace they have received
here below, imploring it for those that have need thereof, to
the end that their own faith may be also consummated by a
perfect charity.
It is this grace, Sir, which you will experience, when [by the in-
,T . ^ . i ^ . , .,, , , tcrcession
your Majesty shall have attained this taitn by your re- of Queen
union with the Church. You will feel likewise the effect
of the prayers and intercession this glorious Princess makes
to God for you by Jesus Christ ; to the end, that when
He shall have restored you to His Church, the throne,
that was unjustly rent away both from her and from you,
may be restored to you in the midst of your subjects, there
to re-establish, by the same grace, the Kingdom of Jesus
Christ.
To these prayers, which all the Angels, and all the
Saints which are in the Church, in Heaven and in earth,
make to God for your Majesty, I join, Sir, my vows
and my supplications, with this testimony of my devotion
to your most humble service, in a subject which I have
C THE VICTORY OF TRUTH ; &C.
deemed the most important, and the most worthy to gain
me the honour of your Majesty's favour, and that of styling
myself,
SIR,
Your Majesty's most humble, most faithful,
and most obedient Servant,
LA MILLETIERE.
THE WORKS
OP
ARCHBISHOP BRAMHALL.
PART THE FIRST;
CONTAINING
THE DISCOUKSES AGAINST THE ROMANISTS.
DISCOURSE I.
AN ANSWER
TO
M. DE LA MILLETIEEE
HIS IMPERTINENT DEDICATION OF HIS IMAGINARY TRIUMPH;
OB
HIS EPISTLE
TO THE KING OF GREAT BRITAIN,
WHEREIN HE INVITETH HIS MAJESTY
TO FORSAKE THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND,
AND
TO EMBRACE THE ROMAN CATHOLIC RELIGION.
BY JOHN BRAMHALL, D.D.
LORD BISHOP OF DERRY.
feRAMHALL.
CONTENTS.
Page
[Of the treatise upon Transubstantiate on in La Milletiere's "Vic-
toire de la VeVite."] ....... 7
No differences in the Church directly about the Sacrament [of the Lord's
Supper] for the first 800 years ; . . . . .8
Yet different observations ; .... 9
And different expressions. . . . . .10
The first difference about the Presence of Christ in the Sacrament, in the days
of Bertram and Paschasius, not long before the year 900 ; but the new
article of Transubstantiation not sufficiently concocted in the days of
Berengarius, after the year 1050. . U
The first determination of the manner of the Presence [by the introduction
of Transubstantiation], in the Council of the Lateran, in the days of
Innocent the Third, after the year 1200. . 14
It opened a floodgate to a deluge of controversies. ... il>.
Two further differences have flowed from this bold determination of the
manner of the Presence :
I. The detention of the Cup from the laity ;
II. The adoration of the Sacrament. . 20
Against multiplying of questions and controversies. . 23
The occasion of this Discourse, the Preface and Epistle Dedica
tory [of La Milletiere's " Victoire de la Verite"]. . 23
The indiscretion of the Author [La Milletiere] in presenting such a treatise
to the world under the protection of his Majesty [Charles the Second]
without his license and against his conscience ; . 24
And to no purpose ; for the King is already a better Catholic than
himself. ..... jk
It is not lawful to add to the old Creed. . . 25
What are additions to the Creed, and what are only explications. . ib.
Crosses are not always punishments, but sometimes corrections, or trials. . 27
Which the Author presently forgets. ... ib.
Better grounds of the sufferings of his Majesty [Charles the First]
than those of the Author. ... . ib.
The Authors rash censure upon the Archbishopof Canterbury [Laud]. 28
Sovereigns may be taken away for the sins of their subjects. . 29
Not above two or three of our Princes called Heads of the Church ; ib.
That is, only political Heads. .... ib.
The Christian Emperors political Heads. , . .30
The old Kings of England political Heads. . ib
B*3
IV CONTENTS.
Page
Neither King Charles [the First], King James [the First], nor
Queen Elizabeth, styled Heads of the Church. . .31
The Author's satisfaction, to persuade the Pope to leave that vain title. 32
Hatred of Episcopacy not the true cause why the Parliament persecuted the
King .33
The true causes of the troubles of England : viz. some feigned jealousies and
fears, ......... ib.
I. That the King purposed to reduce the free English subject to a
condition of absolute slavery under an arbitrary government, . ib.
II. That he meant to apostate from the Protestant religion to Popery ; 34
And the privy purse and subtle counsels of a certain Bishop [Card.
Richelieu]. . • . . . .35
We are only accused of schism. . . . . . .30
The reply to that accusation added at the conclusion of this Answer
in a Discourse by itself [viz. The Vindication of the Church of
England, &c. Discourse ii. Part i.] . . . ib.
Presbyterians and Brownists have been Rome's best friends: . . ib.
They may send their own answer. . . . . ib.
The English Reformation not the ruin of the civil government. . . 37
t not Calvinistical. . . . .38
Reformation, is sometimes necessary ; . . .40
, not agreeable to all persons, especially the C ourt of Rome ; ib.
, there is danger in ; . . . . . ib.
, the right rule of. . . . . .41
Our Reformation not the ruin of Faith, Church, or Commonwealth, ib.
Our first supposed ' maxim' ; viz. That the Church was fallen to ruin and
desolation, and become guilty of idolatry and tyranny. . . 42
The Catholic Church cannot come to ruin, or be guilty of idolatry
or tyranny. .... . ib.
Catholic and Roman not convertibles. . . . . ib.
The Roman Church itself not absolutely fallen to ruin. . . 43
Whether the Roman Church be guilty of idolatry. . . ib.
The Roman Court most tyrannical. . . . .47
Our second supposed ' maxim' ; viz. That the only way to reform the Faith,
and Liturgy, and government of the Church, is to conform them to
the dictates of Holy Scripture, of the sense whereof any private Christian
ought to be judge by the light of the Spirit, excluding Tradition and the
public judgment of the Church. . . . . .48
It is much mistaken. .... . ib.
I. The Scripture the rule of supernatural truths. . . .49
II. Who are the proper expounders of Scripture and how far : . ib.
viz : Every Christian keeping himself within the bounds of due
obedience and submission to his lawful superiors, with a
j udgment of discretion ; . . . . .50
The pastors of the Church, with a judgment of direction ; . ib.
The chief pastors, with a judgment of jurisdiction. . ib.
III. The manner of expounding Scripture ;
[viz: by means of, and with authority proportioned to, the
requisite qualifications for the task.] . . . ib.
This is conformable to the doctrine and practice of our Church. . 52
CONTENTS V
Page
The English Church an enemy to upstart, not to Apostolical, Traditions. . 53
What articles of the new Roman Creed we have renounced. . . 54
Of the Sacrifice of the Mass ; . ib.
Of Transubstantiation ; . . . . .55
Of Seven Sacraments ; . . . . . ib.
Of Justification ; . . . . . .56
Of Merits;. . . . . . . . ib.
Of Invocation of Saints ; . . . . . .57
Of Prayer for the dead with Purgatory; . . . .59
Of the authority of the Pope. . . . . .60
Whether human laws bind the conscience. . . . .61
The Author a little enthusiastical. . . . .. . .62
The Romanists require submission to their Church as necessary to salvation; 63
Yet cannot agree among themselves what this Roman Church is. . ib.
The English Church not perished. . . . . . . ib.
The Author's vain dreams. . . . . . . .64
His vainer proposition of a conference : . . . . .65
The King of England desires no such conference; . . 67
If he should, he had neither reason nor need to desert his English
clergy; . . . ib.
Such a conference not fit to be granted by the King of France; . ib.
Nor to be accepted by the ministers of the Reformed Church
[of France] ; . . . . . . .68
Nor could any such success be expected from it. . . ib.
The Author's impertinence and sauciness with the King, in dictating
to him what he should or would do in a case which is never
likely to be. . . . . . . ,69
His pen overruns his wit. . . . . . . ib.
The Author's improper choice of a patron for his treatise of Transub
stantiation. . . . . . . . .70
His unskilfulness, or his unfortunateness, in his 'Demonstration.' . . ib.
The great advantage of the Protestant above the Roman Catholic
in the choice of his foundation. . . . .71
The Author's 'Demonstration' requited upon himself. . . 72
His Majesty's apostacy is not the way to his restitution. . . .73
The obligation of the Scots to his Majesty, the greatest of any subjects' in the
known world : . . . . . . . .74
Their treachery ; . . . . . . . ib.
The loyal Scots excepted : . . . . . . ib.
The disloyal Scots deciphered. . . . . .75
No hope from that party, until they repent. . . . ib.
God must not be limited to time or means of deliverance. . . .76
His Majesty's escape out of England almost miraculous ; . . ib.
And seems to presage that God hath something to do with him. . 77
Prayers and tears the proper arms of women,. . . . . ib.
Especially of mothers ; . ib.
Yet not so powerful as his father's intercession,, now in Heaven. . ib.
The Author's instance of Henry the Great not pertinent. . . . ib.
The just commendation of King Charles [the First]. . . . ib.
It is gross impudence to feign that he died a Roman Catholic. , 78
VI CONTENTS.
Page
The Author's confession [that he did so,] confutes his 'Demonstra
tion,' that Protestants have no Faith. . .78
The Author's intelligence as good in Heaven as upon earth. . 79
No Faith sufficient armour against hloody attempts. . . il>.
The Author much fallen [in the latter end of his treatise] from his former
charity in seeking the reunion of Christendom. . . ib.
The way to a general accommodation. . . .80
DISCOURSE L
AN ANSWER
TO
M. DE LA MILLETIEEEa
HIS IMPERTINENT DEDICATION OF HIS IMAGINARY TRIUMPH,
[FIRST PRINTED AT THE HAGUE, A. D. 1653.]
SIR,
You might long have disputed your question of Transub-
stantiation with your learned adversary, and proclaimed your
own triumph on a silver trumpet to the world, before any
member of the Church of England had interposed in this
present exigence of our affairs. I know no necessity that
Christians must be like cocks, that, ' when one crows, all the
rest must crow for company V Monsieur Aubertin will not
want a surviving friend c, to teach you what it is ' to sound a
[of the
treatis£
substantia-
Miiietiere's
01
a [Theophile Bracliet, Sieur de la
Milletiere, was originally a member of
the French Reformed congregations, and
sufficiently distinguished among them
to be selected as a deputy and secretary
to the Assembly of La Rochelle in 1621.
He entered subsequently into the plans
of Cardinal Richelieu for the union of
the Roman Catholic and Reformed
Churches in France, — published a
great number of letters, pamphlets, and
treatises upon the doctrines in dispute
between them, assimilating gradually to
the Roman Catholic tenets, — was sus
pended in consequence by the Synod of
Alencon in 1637, and expelled by that of
Charenton in 1645, from the Reformed
communion, — and finally became a
Roman Catholic " of necessity, that he
might be of some religion." " He wes
a vain and shallow man, full of himself,
and persuaded that nothing approached
to his own merit and capacity ;" and,
after his change of religion, "was per
petually playing the missionary, and
seeking conferences, although he was
always handled in them with a severity
sufficient to have damped his courage,
had he not been gifted with a perversity
which nothing could conquer" (Benoit,
Hist, del' Edit de Nantes, torn. ii. liv.10.
pp. 514, 516). The work to which
Bramhall replied seems fully to bear out
the truth of this sketch of his character.
— See the article 'Milletiere' in Bayle,
and notes b andc, pp. 10, 11, (marginal
paging,) of La Miiietiere's Epistle pre
fixed to this volume.]
b Plut. [The Editor cannot find this
saying in Plutarch.]
c [Edmund Aubertin (Albertinus} was
one of the many celebrated theologians
who adorned the French Reformed con
gregations in the seventeenth century.
8 THE BISHOP OF DEREY^S ANSWER TO
PART triumph before you have gained the victory4/ He was no
~~ fool that desired no other epitaph on his tomb than this,
" Here lies the author of this sentence, Pruriyo disputandi
scabies Ecclesm — The itch of disputing is the scab of the
Church*."
Having viewed all your strength with a single eye, I find
not one of your arguments that comes home to Transubstan-
tiation, but only to a true Real Presence ; which no genuine
son of the Church of England did ever deny, no, nor your
adversary himself. Christ said, " This is My Body •" what
He said, we do steadfastly believe. He said not, after this or
that manner, neque con, neque sub, neque trans. And there
fore we place it among the opinions of the schools, not among
the articles of our Faith. The Holy Eucharist, which is the
Sacrament of peace and unity, ought not to be made the
matter of strife and contention.
i Cor. xi. There wanted not abuses in the administration of this
No differ- Sacrament in the most pure and primitive times : as profane-
the Church ness an(^ uncharitableiiess among the Corinthians. The
directly Simoniaiis, and Menandriaiis, and some other such imps of
about the
Sacrament Satan, unworthy the name of Christians, did wholly forbear
Lord's the use of the Eucharist ; but it was not for any difference
She1 "first Jlbout tlie Sacrament itself, but about the Natural Body of
soo years ; Christ ; they held, that His Flesh, and Blood, and Passion,
were not true and real, but imaginary and phantastical,
things1". The Manicliees did forbear the Cup; but it was not
for any difference about the Sacrament itself : they made two
Gods, — a good God, whom they called £a>? or Light, and an
evil God, whom they termed 2 KOTOS or Darkness ; which evil
God, they said, did make some creatures of the dreg or more
He was born at Chalons sur Marne notes a andc to La Milletiere's Epistle,
in 1595, and became a minister of pp.9 and 11, and the article Aubertin
the congregation at Charenton in in Bayle.]
1631, where he remained until his d [Platon. Lys. c. 6. ii. 205. D. The-
death. He is principally known as setet. c. 56. i. 164. C.]
the author of a learned and laborious e Sir Henry Wotton. [See Walton's
treatise upon the subject of Transub- Life and Wordsworth's note, Eccles.
stantiation, first published in French at Biogr. vol. iv. p. 104. 3rd edit]
Geneva in 1633, and republished after f Theodoret [Dialog, iii. torn. iv. P. i.
his death in Latin with the author's p. 231. ed. Schulze; tanquam] ex
improvements by Blondel, Daventrise Ignatio [scil. in Epist. ad Smyrn. § 6.
1655. He died April 5th, 1652, be- inter Patr. Apost. torn. ii. p. 412. ed.
tween the publication of La Milletiere's Jacobson].
book and BramhalPs Answer. — See
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C.
9
feculent parts of the matter, which were evil and impure ; DISCOURSE
and among these evil creatures they esteemed wine, which '-
they called ' the gall of the Dragon g :' for this cause, not upon
any other scruple, they wholly abstained from the Cuph, or
used water in the place of wine ; which Epiphanius recordeth
among the errors of the Ebionites and Tatians1, and
St. Augustine of the Aquarians k. Still we do not find any
clashing, either in word or writing, directly about this
Sacrament in the universal Church of Christ, much less
about the Presence of Christ in the Sacrament. " Neque
ullus veterum disputat contra hunc errorem primis sexcentis
anms '
The first that are supposed by Bellarmine to have broached
any error in the Church about the Real Presence, were the
Iconomachi, after 700 years ; — " primi qui veritatem Corporis
Domini in Eucharistia in qu&stionem vocdrunt, fuerunt Icono
machi post annum Domini 700 m •" — only because they called
the Bread and Wine the image of Christ's Body". This is as
great a mistake as the former. Their difference was merely
about images, not at all about the Eucharist. So much
Vazquez0 confesseth ; that, "in his judgment, they were not
to be numbered with those who deny the Presence of Christ
in the Eucharist."
We may well find different observations1? in those days : as yet differ-
one Church consecrating leavened bread, another unleavened ;
one Church making use of pure wine, another of wine mixed
with water ; one Church admitting infants to the Communion,
another not admitting them : but without controversies, or
censures, or animosity one against the other. We find no
debates or disputes concerning the Presence of Christ's Body
in the Sacrament, and much less concerning the manner of
His Presence, for the first 800 years.
g ["Fel Principum tenebrarum."
August, de Mor. Manich. c. 44. torn. i.
p. 732. C.]
h Leon. M. Serm. iv. De Quadrages.
[c. 5. torn. i. p. 217. ed. Quesnel.j
* Adv. Haeres. xxx. [§ 16. p. 142.
A] ; xlvi. [§ 2. p. 392. A. torn. i. ed.
Petav. Paris. 1622.]
k Lib. de Haeres. c. Ixiv. [torn. viii. p.
20. G.]
1 Bellarm. De Sacram. Euchar. lib. i.
cap. 1. [Op. torn. ii. p. 456. A.]
m Bellarm. Ibid. [B.]
n Synod. Concil. Nicsen. Secund. act.
vi. [torn. iii. ap. Labb. Concil. torn. vii.
p. 445.]
0 [In Tert. Part. D. Thomae. Qu. 75.
Art. 1.] Disput. clxxix. c. 1. [num. 9.]
P [Bingham's Orig. Eccles. book
xv. chap. 2. § 5, 6, 7. chap. 4. § 7.
vol. v. pp. 40—51. 171—179. Lond.
1840.]
10
THE BISHOP OF DERRY S ANSWER TO
PA RT Yet all the time we find as different expressions among
and differ- those primitive Fathers ^ as among our modern writers at this
day : some callinS tne Sacrament 'the Sign of Christ's
Body' — 'the Figure of His Body'— ' the Symbol of His
Body'— < the Mystery of His Body'— < the Exemplar/ 'Type/
and 'Representation, of His Body r/ saying 'that the Elements
do not recede from their first nature8/ others naming it 'the
true Body and Blood of Christ V — ' changed,, not in shape, but
in nature11/ yea, doubting not to say, that in this Sacrament
q [Albertin. De Euchar. lib. ii. in
answer to Bellarm. De Sacrarn. Euchar.
lib. ii Bp. Cosin's Schol. Hist, of
Transubstant. chapters 5. and 6 Jer.
Taylor on the Real Pres. § 12. vol. x.
pp. 59, &c. — Johnson's Unbloody Sacri
fice, chap. 2. subsect. to sect. 1. pp. 145,
&c.]
r [Signum. August. De Doctr. Christ,
lib. iii. c. 9. § 13. torn. iii. P. i. p. 49.
B.C. Adv. Adimant. xii. § 3. torn. viii. p.
124. E. Adv. Maximin. lib. ii. c. 22.
§ 3. torn. viii. p. 725. F. Fignra.
Tertull. Adv. Marcion. lib. iii. c. 19.
p. 494. A. lib. iv. c. 40. p. 571. B. C.
Paris 1634.— Ambros. (?) De Sacram.
lib. iv. c. 5. §21. torn. ii. p. 371. B.—
August, in Ps. 3. § 1. torn. iv. p. 7. E. —
Gaudent. Brix. De Pasch. Observat.
Tract. 2. ap. Biblioth. Patr. torn. iv.
p. 807. E. — Ephrsem. Syr. De Nat.
Dei Curios, non Scrutand. p. 681. Col.
1603.— Bedee Comment, in Luc. 22.
lib. vi. torn. v. p. 424 ; in Ps. 3. torn,
viii. p. 324. Imago. Ambros. De Offic.
lib. i. c. 48. § 248. torn. ii. p. 63. B. C.
— Gelas. De Duab. Natur. ap. Biblioth.
Patr. torn. v. P. iii. p. 671. B. Si/m-
bolum. Victor Antiock. in Marc. c. 14.
ap. Biblioth. Patr. torn. iv. p. 330. F.
Mysterium. Chrys. (?) Opus Imperf.
Horn. xi. p. Ixiii. D, in fin. torn. vi. cd.
Montfauc.— Hilar. De Trinit. lib. viii.
p. 58. B. Paris. 1572. — Hieron. in Ezek.
41. torn. ii. p. 998. — Comment, (vulg.
Ambros.) in 1 Cor. xi. 19. in Append.
ad Ambros. Op. torn. ii. p. 149. F
Facund. Hermian. Pro Trib. Capit. lib.
ix. c. 5. p. 144. B. ed. Sirmond. Ti/pus.
Hieron. In Jerem. 31. torn. i. p. 678. —
Jovinian. ap. Hieron. Adv. Jovin. lib. ii.
torn. iv. P. ii. p. 198. — Comment, (vulg.
Ambros.) in 1 Cor. xi. 26. ut supra p.
149. D. — Capit. Martin. Episc. Bracar.
cap. Iv. ap. Labb. Concil. torn. v. p. 91 1.
Similitude. August. Epist. xcviii. § 9.
torn. ii. p. 267. F.— Ambros. (?) De
Sacram. lib. iv. c. 4. § 20. tom.ii. pp.370.
C. 371. A. lib. vi. c. 1. § ibid. 3. 4. p. 380.
A.B. — Gelas.DeDuab. Natur. ut supra.
RepreEszntatio. "In quo" (pane) "ipsum
Corpus Suum rcprcesentat." Tertull.
Adv. Marcion. lib. i. c. 14. p. 440. A.
Paris. 1634. — " Ut . . . Ipse quoque
veritatem Sui Corporis et Sanguinis
reprcEsentaret.'1'' Hieron. in Matth. 26.
torn. iv. P. i. p. 128. EIKWV — 2v/u/3oAoz/
— MvaTfipiov — 'AvTiTviros — TVTTOS '• see
the passages collected from the Greek
Fathers by Suicer, Thesaur. sub
vocc.]
s [" OuSe yap . . . TO. fj-variKa avuftoXa.
TTJS oiKtias e'liVrarat (pixTtcos." Theo-
doret. Dial. ii. torn. iv. P. i. p. 12G. ed.
Schulze. — "Tt» Trapa ru>v iriaruiv ActyijSa-
v6fJ.£VOV 2,(t>fJ.a XpKTTOU . . . T7JS OUT0?)T77S
ovffias OVK e£i<rTaTcu." Ephrsem.
Antioch. Patriarch, ap. Phot. Biblioth.
Cod. ccxxix. p. 252. ed. Bekker. — " Esse
non desinit. . . . natura panis et vim."
Gelas. De Duab. Natur. ut supra.—
tl Natura panis permansit" (post sanctifi-
cationem). Chrys. ad Cassarium. Op.
torn. iii. p. 744. C. ed. Montfaucon.]
1 *'
5^a /ecu
aA?70ws Aa/a/Sai/ofTes" Act. Concil. Ni-
caen. Primi in Gelas. Cyzic. Hist. lib. ii.
c. 30. ap. Labb. Concil. torn. ii. p. 231 __
" Nunc enim et Ipsius Domini profes-
sione et nostra fide vere Caro est et vere
Sangiiis est." Hilar. De Trinit. lib. viii.
p. 58. D. Paris. 1572.— 'Tera" (Christi)
" Caro . . qiiam accipimus, et verus Ejus
polus est." Ambros. (?) De Sacram.
lib. vi. c. 1. § 1. p. 380.]
u [" Panis . . . non effigie sed naiura
mutatus." Serin. Arnold. Abbatis (vulg.
Cyprian.) inter Op. ejus p. 40. in Ap
pend. ad Cyprian. Op. — "Benedictione
etiam natura mutatur." Ambros. lib.
de Mysteriis c. ix. § 50. torn. ii. p.
338. D ; and again ibid. § 52. p. 339.
C.]
THE EPISTLE OF M; DE LA MILLETIERE, &C.
11
' we see Christ' — ( we touch. Christ' — ' we eat Christ x/ — f that DISCOURSE
we fasten our teeth in His 'very Flesh,, and make our tongues —
red in His Bloody/ Yet,, notwithstanding,, there were no
questions, no quarrels, 110 contentions amongst them; there
needed no Councils to order them, no conferences to reconcile
them ; because they contented themselves to believe what
Christ had said, — " This is My Body," — without presuming on
their own heads to determine the manner how it is His Body;
neither weighing all their own words so exactly before any
controversy was raised, nor expounding the sayings of other
men contrary to the analogy of Faith.
The first doubt about the Presence of Christ's Body in The first
the Sacrament seems to have been moved not long before the about the
year 900 in the days of Bertram and Paschasius ; but the chrisHn °f
controversy was not well formed, nor this new article of the Sacra
ment.
Transubstantiation sufficiently concocted, in the days of
Berengarius, after the year 1050; as appeareth by the gross
mistaking and mistating of the question on both sides. First
Berengarius, if we may trust his adversaries, knew no mean
between a naked figure or empty sign of Christ's Presence
and a corporeal or local Presence55, and afterwards fell into
another extreme of impanation a : on the other side, the Pope
* [" 'iSou Avrbv 5pas, AVTOV
Avrbv IffQieis' . . . Avrbs Se 'Eavrov ffoi
fiiSwffiv, OVK iSz'iv fji6vov, a\\a Kal
atyaadcu Kal (pa-yew Kal Aa/3eif efSov."
Chrys. Horn, in Matth. Ixxxii (al.
Ixxxiii). torn. ii. p. 514. — "Ou rb lfj.driov
jj.6vov, ciAAa Kal rb Swjua' ov%? Soare
aAA' &ffre /cat (payrjuai
." Id. Horn, in Matth.
1 (al. li). torn. ii. p. 322. —
TQV 'Swp.aros Xpio"rov." Basil. De Bap
tism. lib. ii. Qu. 3. torn. i. p. 677. D.
Paris. 1618. — " Christus, noster (qui
Corpus Ejus contingimus) panis." Cy
prian. Serm. de Orat. Domin. Op. p.
147. — " Certus quod Agnum Ipsum
integre comedas." Ephraem. Syr. De
Nat. Dei Curios, non Scrut. p. 682. Col.
1603. — See also note y.]
y ["OuK t'SeiV Avrbv ^bvov
To7s linQv^oiiGiv, a\\a Kal
fyayslv ical f'/u71"^01 rovs 6d6vras TTJ
2ap«i." Chrys. Horn, in Joh. xlvi
(al. xlv). torn. ii. p. 746. — '' 'Hs TTJS
6eias /cal axpdvTOV irAevpas edaTrr6/j.evoi
TO?S xet'^eo''I/< OVTUTOV crcjTTjpiouAi'juaTos
Id. Horn. v. (ix. Mont-
fauc.) de Posiiitentia. torn. vi. p. 791.
— •'' T^v yXuffffav TTJV (j)oivicra'ofj.ev'rji>
A'l/naTi. 0p£Ka)8ecrTaT^." Id. Horn, in
Matth. Ixxxii (al. Ixxxiii). torn. ii. p.
514 — "ndVras fKeivtp T<£ np-icf <poivi<r-
(TOpJvovs A'^UOTJ." Id. De Sacerdot. lib.
iii. torn. vi. p. 15. — " Cruci hasremus,
Sanguinem sugimus, et intra Ipsius Re-
demptoris nostri vulnera figimus lin-
guam ; quo" (Sanguine) " interius ex-
teriusque rubricate . . ." Serm. Arnold.
Abbat. vit supra, p. 41.]
z [Such is the representation of his
principal adversaries, Adelmann (Epist.
ad Berengar. ap. Biblioth. Patr. torn, xi.),
Guitmund (De Verit. Corp. et Sang.
Christi in Euchar., ibid.), Lanfranc
(Lib. de Sacram. Euchar. adv. Beren
gar., ibid.), and Alger (De Sacram.
adv. Berengar., ibid, torn, xii.) ; but
Bp. Cosin (Hist, of Transubstant. c. 7.
§ 5.) gives a far more favourable view
of his opinions, as implied in the few
words of his own preserved by Lan
franc.]
a [Guitmund, as above, p. 351. E.]
12 THE BISHOP OF DERRY^S ANSWER TO
PART and the Council made no difference between consubstantia-
'- tion and transubstantiation, — they understood nothing of the1 7
spiritual or indivisible being of the Flesh and Blood of Christ
in the Sacrament ; as appeareth by that ignorant and ' Caper-
[Johnvi.52. naitical' retractation and abjuration, which they impose upon
Berengarius, penned by Umbertus a Cardinal, approved by
Pope Nicholas and a Council : — " Ego Berengarius £fc.b" — "I
Berengarius do consent to the Holy Roman Apostolic See,
and profess, with my mouth and my heart, to hold the same
Faith of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper with Pope
Nicholas and this holy Synod, &c. ;" and what the Faith of
Pope Nicholas and this Synod was, follows in the next words ;
" That the Bread and Wine, which are set upon the Altar,
after Consecration are not only the Sacrament, but the very
Body and Blood of Christ." This seems to favour consub-
stantiation, rather than transubstantiation. If the Bread
and Wine be the Body and Blood of Christ, then they remain
Bread and Wine still ; if the Bread be not only the Sacra
ment, but also the thing of the Sacrament, if it be both the
sign and the thing signified, how is it now to be made
nothing ?
It follows in the retractation ; " That the Body and Blood of
[" non so- Christ is sensibly, not only in the sacrament, but in truth,
mento sed handled and broken by the hand of the Priest, and bruised
tate^']1" ky the teeth of the faithful." If it be even so, there needs no
more but feel and be satisfied. To this they made Berengarius
swear " by the Consubstantial Trinity and the Holy Gospels/'
and accurse and anathematize all those who held the contrary;
yet these words did so much scandalize and offend the
Glosser upon Gratian, that he could not forbear to admonish
["nisi sane the reader, that " unless he understood those words in a
&c?"]lga sound sense, he would fall into a greater heresy than that of
Berengarius0." Not without reason, for the most favourable
of the Schoolmen d do confess, that these words are not pro
perly and literally true, but figuratively and metonymically,
understanding the thing containing by the thing contained ;
b Ex Act. Syn. Rom. sub Nicol. Distinct, ii. c. ' Ego Berengar.'
Secund. [A.D. 1059. ap. Labb. Concil. d [So Bellarmine, De Sacram. Eu-
tom. ix. p. 1101.] char. lib. iii. c. 24. torn. ii. pp. 767—
c Gloss, in Gratian. De Consecrat. 769.]
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 13
as to say the Body of Christ is broken or bruised, because DISCOURSE
the quantity or species of Bread are broken and bruised. — —
They might as well say, that the Body and Blood of Christ
becomes fusty and sour, as often as the species of Bread and
Wine before their corruption become fusty and sour. But
the retractation of Berengarius can admit no such figurative
sense ; — that " the Body and Blood of Christ in the Sacra
ment are divided and bruised sensibly, not only in the
sacrament" (that is the species) "but also in truth :" a most
ignorant Capernaitical assertion ; for the Body of Christ
being not in the Sacrament modo quantitative, according to
their own tenet, but indivisibly, after a spiritual manner, with
out extrinsecal extension of parts, cannot in itself, or in truth,
be either divided or bruised. Therefore others of the School
men go more roundly and ingenuously to work, and confess,
that ' it is an abusive and excessive expression/ ' not to be
held or defended/ and that 'it happened to Berengarius5
(they should have said to Pope Nicholas, and Cardinal Um-
bertus), ' as it doth with those who out of a detestation of
one error incline to another6/ Neither will it avail them any
thing at all, that the Fathers have sometimes used such ex
pressions of ' seeing Christ/ of ' touching Christ' in the Sacra
ment, of ' fastening our teeth in His Flesh/ and ' making
our tongues red in His Blood/ There is a great difference
between a sermon to the people and a solemn retractation
before a judge. The Fathers do not say, that such ex
pressions are true, not only sacramentally or figuratively, —
(as they made Berengarius both say and accurse all others
that held otherwise,) — but also properly, and in the things
themselves. The Fathers never meant by these forms of
speech to determine the manner of the Presence (which was
e [" Hyperbolice locutus est et veri- Resolutione.] Bonavent, [In iv. Sen-
tatem excessit." Gloss, in Gratian. tent. Distinct, xii. P. i. Art. iii. qu. 1 . in
De Consecrat. Distinct, ii. c. ' Utrum Conclusione.] — ["Sic enim frequenter
sub figura.' — "Quia ille (Berengar.) volentes errorem aliquem damnare exces-
fuerat infamatus quod non credebat &c. sive locuti sunt, ut penitus recederent
. . . ideo ad sui purgationem per verba ab errore ; quasi declinare viderentur in
excessiva contrarium asseruit." Richard. alterum extremum errorem, scilicet sibi
de Med. Vill. In iv. Sentent. Distinct. oppositum."] Gabriel [Biel in Canon,
ix. Qu. !.] — [" Nee modus iste" (scil. Miss. Lect. Ixxx. § De Verit. Fraction.
Berengar. in Confession.) "est tenen- fol. 211. Lugd. 1542.] — [See Bp.
dus."'] Alexand. [De Hales, Summ. Cosin's Hist, of Transubstant. c. 7. §
P. iv. Qu. 10. Memb. 9. Art. i. in 10.]
14 THE BISHOP OF DERRY^S ANSWER TO
PART not dreamt of in their days), but to raise the devotion of their
— hearers and readers ; to advertise the people of God,, that
they should not rest in the external symbols, or signs, but
principally be intent upon the invisible grace : which was
both lawful and commendable for them to do. Leave us
their primitive liberty, and we will not refrain from the like
expressions.
I urge this to shew, that the new doctrine of Transub-
stantiation is so far from being an old article of Faith, that it
was not well digested, nor rightly understood, in any tolerable
measure, by the greatest clerks, and most concerned, above
a thousand years after Christ.
The [first] The first definition or determination of this manner of the is
tion of the Presence was yet later, in the Council of Lateranf, in the
Senpre'-°f da7s of Innocent the Third, after the year 1200. "Ante
sencc. Lateranense Concilium Transubstantiatio nonfuii dogma fidei%"
And what the fruit of it was, let Vasquezh bear witness. " Au-
dito nomine Transubstantialionis, &c." — " The very name of
Transubstantiation being but heard, so great a controversy
did arise among the later schoolmen concerning the nature
thereof, that the more they endeavoured to wind themselves
out, the more they wrapped themselves in greater difficulties,
wrhereby the mystery of Faith became more difficult both to
be explained and to be understood, and more exposed to the
cavils of its adversaries." He adds, that "the name of con
version and transubstantiation gave occasion to these con
troversies."
it opened a No sooner was this bell rung out, no sooner was this fatal
to°a deluge sentence given, but, as if Pandora's box had been newly set
vers?estr°" w^e °Pen; whole swarms of noisome questions and debates
did fill the schools.
Then it began to be disputed by what means this change
comes : whether by the Benediction of the Elements, or by
{ [Decret. Concil. Later. A.D. 1215, baturin SymboloApostolorumvel Atha-
c. 1. ap. Labb. Concil. torn. xi. p. nasii vel Nicseni;" — which passage is
M3. B.] reported by Bellarm. (De Sacram. Eu-
s Scotus In iv. Sen tent. Distinct, xi. char. lib. iii. c. 23. torn. ii. p. 761. A.)
Qu. 3. [§ 15. " Ubi" (scil. in Symbol. in the words quoted byBramhall in the
Innocent. Papae et Concil. Lateran.) text.]
"expliciteponiturveritasaliquorumcre- h Vazquez [In Tert. Part. D.
dendorum " (he is speaking of transub- Thomse] Qu. 75. [Art. 8.] Disp. clxxxi.
stantiation)"magisexplicitequamhabe- c. 1. [num. 2.]
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 15
the repetition of these words of Christ, "This is My Body." DISCOURSE
The common current of your schools is for the latter ; but -
your judicious Archbishop of Csesarea1, since the Council of
Trent, in a book dedicated to Sixtus the Fifth,, produceth
great reason to the contrary.
Then was the question started, what the demonstrative
pronoun Hoc signifies in these words, " This is my Body ;"
whether this thing, or this substance, or this Bread, or this
Body, or this meat, or these accidents, or that which is con
tained under these species, or this individuum vagum, or lastly
(which, seems stranger than all the rest) this nothing k.
Then it began to be argued, whether the Elements were
annihilated : whether the matter and form of them being
destroyed, their essence did yet remain ; or the essence being
converted, the existence remained : whether the sacramental
existence of the Body and Blood of Christ do depend upon
its natural existence : whether the whole Host were transub
stantiated, or only some parts of it, that is, such parts as
should be distributed to worthy communicants ; or whether
in those parts of the Host, which were distributed unto
unworthy communicants, the matter of bread and wine did
not return1 : whether the Deity did assume the Bread, or
the species thereof, by a new hypostatical union, called
impanation™, either absolutely, or respectively mediante Cor-
pore : whether the Body and Blood of Christ might be pre
sent in the Sacrament without transubstantiation, with the
Bread or without the Bread : whether a body may be transub
stantiated into a Spirit ; and (which is most strange) whether
a creature might be transubstantiated into the Deity n.
Then the schoolmen began to wrangle what manner of
change this was ; whether a material change, or a formal
change ; or a change of the whole substance, both matter and
1 [Christopher de Capite Fontium, m \_Impanation : — scil. " non adesse
or Christofle de Cheffontaines, Archbp. in Eucharistia Humanum seu Carneum
of Csesarea, in the dedicatory epistle Christi Corpus sumptum ex B. Virgine
prefixed to his Varii Tractat. et Dis- Matre, sed Corpus Panaceum assmmptum
putat] De Necessar. Correct. Scholast. hypostatice a Verbo ;" as the word is
Theolog. [Paris. 1586]. explained by Henriquez, Surmn. Theol.
k Gloss, in Gratian. De Consecrat. Moral, lib. viii. c. 20. p. 441. Venet.
Distinct, ii. c. 'Timorem.' 1596.]
.J Guitmund. De Verit. [Corp. et n Vazquez [In Tert. Part. D. Thomae.
Sang. Christi in Euchar.] lib. iii. [ap. Qu. 75. Art. 8.] Disput. clxxxiv. c. 1.
Biblioth. Patr. torn. xi. pp. 372, sq.] [num. 4.]
16
THE BISHOP OF DERRY S ANSWER TO
PART
I.
form : and if it were a conversion of the whole substance,
then whether it was by way of production, or by adduction,
or by conservation : each of which greater squadrons are sub
divided into several lesser parties, speaking as different
language as the builders of Babel, pestering and perplexing
one another with inextricable difficulties.
It cannot be a new production (saith one) ; because the
Body of Christ, whereinto the Elements are supposed to be
converted, did pre-exist before the change ; neither can that
Body which is made of Bread, be the same Body with that
which was born of a Virgin.
If it be not by production (say others), but only by adduc
tion, then it is not a transwfoto/iation, but a trans
lation; not a change of natures, but a local succession:
then the Priest is not the 'maker of his Maker0' (as they
use to brag), but only puts Him into a new Positure or
Presence under the species of Bread and Wine.
Howbeit this way by adduction be " the more common and
the safer way" (if we may trust Bellarminep), yet, of all con
versions or changes, it hath least affinity with transub
stantiation. Suppose the water had not been turned into
wine at Cana of Galilee by our Saviour, but poured out, or
utterly destroyed, and wine new created, or adduced by 19
miracle into the water-pots, in such a manner that the intro
duction of the wine should be the expulsion of the water not
only comitanter but causaliter ; in such case it had been
[Exod. iv. no transubstantiation. Moses his rod was truly changed
into a serpent, but it wras by production ; if his rod had been
conveyed away invisibly by legerdemain, and a serpent had
been adduced into the place of it, what transubstantiation
had this been ? None at all ; no, though the adduction of
the serpent had been the means of the expulsion and de-
[Job. ii
1-10.]
0 [" Ut . . . Deum cuncta creantem
suo signaculo creent" (sacerdotes).
Urban the Second, and the Council of
Rome A. D. 1099, as reported by
Simeon Dunelm. Histor. de Gestis Reg.
Anglor. ap. Twysden Histor. Anglic.
Scriptor. Decem, p. 224. Lond. 1652 ;
Brompton, Chron. ibid. p. 994 ; and
Hoveden, Chron. ap. Savil. Rer. Anglic.
Script, post Bedam, p. 467. — " Quum
creator sit" (sacerdos) " Creatoris sui."
Stella Clericorum Cuilibet Clero Summe
Necessaria, printed by Pynson at the
end of the fifteenth or beginning of the
sixteenth century ; see Ames' Typo-
graph. Antiquit. by Dibdin, vol. ii. p.
547. -Quoted by Jer. Taylor, On the
Real Pres. Pref. vol. ix. p. ccccviii.j
p [Bellarm. De Sacram. Euchar.
lib. iii. c. 18. torn. ii. pp. 735. B, 738.
B.]
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA M1LLETIERE, &C. 17
struction of the rod. It is so far from transubstantiation, DISCOURSE
that it is no conversion at all. The substance of the Ele
ments is not converted, for that is supposed to be destroyed.
The accidents are not converted, but remain the same they
were. It is no adduction at all, when the Body of Christ
(which is the thing supposed to be adduced) remains still in
Heaven, where it was before.
It cannot be a conservative conversion (say others) : for the
same individual thing cannot be conserved by two total distinct
conservations ; but if this were a conservative conversion, the
Body of Christ should be conserved by two total distinct
conservations, the one in Heaven, the other in earth ; yea,
by ten thousand distinct total conservations upon earth, even
as many as there are consecrated Hosts : " which seems to
be ridiculous, and without any necessity administers great
occasion to the adversaries of Christian religion, of jesting
and deriding the mysteries of our Faith *."
So here we have a transubstantiation without transub
stantiation ; a production of a modus or manner of being, for
a production of a substance ; an annihilation supposed, yet
no annihilation confessed ; an adduction, without any adduc
tion ; a terminus ad quern, without a terminus a quo. Who
shall reconcile us to ourselves ? But the end is not yet.
Then grew up the question, what is the proper adequate
Body which is contained under the species or accidents ;
whether a material Body, or a substantial Body, or a living
Body, or an organical Body, or a human Body ; whether it
have weight or not, and why it is not perceived ; whether it
can be seen by the eye of mortal man ; whether it can act or
suffer any thing ; whether it be moveable or immoveable ;
whether by itself, or by accident, or by both ; whether it can
move in one place and rest in another, or be moved with two
contrary motions, as upwards and downwards, southwards
and northwards, at the same time.
Add to these, whether the Soul of Christ, and the Deity,
and the whole Trinity, do follow the Body and Blood of
Christ under either species, by concomitance; whether the
Sacramental Body must have suffered the same things with
q Vazquez. [InTertPart.D. Thomae] [num.28.]]
Qu. 75. [Art. 8.] Disput. clxxxii. c. 4.
BRAMIIALL. C
18
PART the Natural Body; as, supposing that an Host, consecrated
at Christ's Last Supper, had been reserved until after His
Passion, whether Christ must have died, and His Blood have
been actually shed, in the Sacramentr; yea, whether those
wounds, that were imprinted by the whips in His Natural
Body, might and should have been found in His Sacramental
Body without flagellation8.
Likewise, what Blood of Christ is in the Sacrament ;
whether that Blood only which was shed, or that Blood only
which remained in the Body, or both the one and the other ;
and whether that Blood which was shed was assumed again
by the Humanity in the Resurrection,
Then began those paradoxical questions to be first agitated
in the schools : whether the same individual body, without
division or discontinuation from itself, can be locally in ten
thousand places, yea, in Heaven and in earth, at the same
time; or if not locally, yet whether it can be spiritually and in-
divisibly; and whether it be not the same as to this pur
pose, whether a body be locally or spiritually present in more
places than one. Bellarmine1 seems to incline to the affirm
ative : — " Though to be any where sacramentally doth not
imply the taking up of a place, yet it implies a true and real
Presence ; and if it be in more Hosts or Altars than one, it
seems no less opposite unto indivisibility, than the filling up of
many places." Nay, he is past seeming positive, that " without
doubt, if a body cannot be in two places locally, it cannot be
sacramentally in two places." Compare11 this of Bellarmine with
that of Aquinas x, that " it is not possible for one body to be in
more places than one locally, no, not by miracle, because it 20
implies a contradiction ;" and consider upon what tottering
foundations you build articles of Faith. It is impossible, and
implies a contradiction, for the Body of Christ to be locally in
more Hosts than one at the same time (saith Aquinas) . But
it is as impossible, and implies a contradiction as much, for
the Body of Christ to be sacramentally in more Hosts than
r [Thorn. Aquin. In iv. Sentent. Dis- u [See Jer. Taylor on the Real
tinct. xi. Qu. iii. Art. 5.] Pres. sect. 11. § 21. vol. x. pp. 35, 36.
s [Vazquez in Tert Part. D. Thomae — and Bp. Hall's Peace of Rome,
Qu. 75. Art. 8. Disput. clxxxii. c. 4. Decade iii. § 9.]
num. 26.] x I" 1V- Sentent. Distinct, xliv. Qu.
t De Sacram. Euchar. lib. iii. c. 3. ii. Art. 2. qu. 3. ['Ad quartum.']
in fin. [Op. torn. ii. p. 677. B. C.]
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 19
one at the same time as to be locally (saith Bellarmine) . The DISCOURSE
inference is plain and obvious.
And many such strange questions are moved : — as whether it
be possible the thing contained should be a thousand times
greater than the thing containing ; whether a definitive being
in a place do not imply a not-being out of that place ; whether
more bodies than one can be in one and the same place ;
whether there can be a penetration of dimensions ; whether a
body can subsist after a spiritual manner, so as to take up no
place at all, but to be wholly in the whole, and wholly in
every part : moreover, whether the whole Body and Blood of
Christ be in every particle of the Bread, and of the Cup;
and if it be, then whether only after the division of the
Bread and Wine, or before division also ; and in how many
parts, and in which parts, is the whole Body and Blood of
Christ ; whether in the least parts ; and if in the least parts,
then whether in the least in kind, or the least in quantity ;
that is, so long as the species may retain the name of bread
and wine, or so long as the matter is divisible ; and whether
the Body and Blood of Christ be also in the indivisible parts,
as points, and lines, and superficies : lastly, whether accidents
can subsist without their subjects, that is, whether they can
be both accidents, and no accidents ; whether all the accidents
of the elements do remain, and particularly whether the
quantity doth remain; whether the other accidents do
inhere in the quantity as their subject, that is, whether an
accident can have an accident; whether the quantity of
Christ's Body be there ; and whether it be there after a
quantitative manner, with extension of parts, either extrin-
secal or intrinsecal : and whether the quantity of the Body of
Christ be distinct and figured, or indistinct and unfigured ;
whether the accidents can nourish or make drunken, or cor
rupt and a new Body be generated of them; and what
supplies the place of the matter in such generation, — whether
the quantity, or the Body of Christ, or the old matter of the
Bread and Wine restored by miracle, or new matter created
by God ; and how long in such corruption doth the Body of
Christ continue.
Whosoever is but moderately versed in your great doctors,
must needs know that these questions are not the private
c 2
THE BISHOP OF DERRY S ANSWER TO
PART
I.
[Two fur
ther differ
ences have
flowed
from this
bold de
termina
tion of the
manner of
the Pre
sence.]
[Lu. xxii.
19, 20.] ;
doubts or debates of single school-men, but the common
garboils and general engagements of your whole schools ; —
wherefore it had been a mere vanity to cite every particular
author for each question, and would have made the margin
swell ten times greater than the text.
From this bold determination of the manner of the Pre
sence how, have flowed two other differences :
I. First, the detention of the Cup from the laity, merely
upon presumption of concomitance, first decreed in the
Council of Constance y, after the year 1400. Let what will
become of concomitance, whilst we keep ourselves to the In
stitution of Christ and the universal practice of the Primitive
Church. It was not for nothing that our Saviour did distin
guish His Body from His Blood, not only in the consecration,
but also in the distribution, of the Sacrament.
By the way give me leave to represent a contradiction in
Bellarmine, which I am not able to reconcile. In one place
he saith2, "The providence of God is marvellous in Holy
Scripture : for St. Luke hath put these words ' do you this'
after the Sacrament given under the form of Bread, but he
repeated it not after the giving of the Cup ; that we might
understand, that the Lord commanded that the Sacrament
should be distributed unto all under the form of Bread, but
not under the form of Wine." And yet in the next chapter
but one of the same Booka he doth positively determine the
contrary, upon the ground of concomitance, — that "the Bread
may be taken away if the Cup be given, but both cannot be
taken away together." Can that be taken away which
Christ hath expressly commanded to be given to all ?
II. A second difference flowing from Transubstantiation, 21
is about the adoration of the Sacrament ; one of those im
pediments which hinder our communication with you in the
celebration of Divine Offices. We deny not a venerable
respect unto the consecrate Elements, not only as love-tokens
sent us by our best Friend, but as the instruments ordained
by our Saviour to convey to us the Merits of His Passion ;
but [and ?] for the Person of Christ, God forbid that we should
y [Concil. Constant. (A.D. 1415.)
Sess. xiii. ap. Labb. Concil. torn. xii.
p. 100.]
z Bellarm. de Sacram. Euchar. lib. iv.
c. 25. [Op. torn. ii. p. 911. C.]
a [Bellarm. ibid.] c. 27. [p. 925. C.]
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 21
deny Him Divine worship at any time, and especially in the DISCOURSE
use of this Holy Sacrament; we believe with St. Austin1*, that
" no man eats of that Flesh, but first he adores :" — but that
which offends us is this, that you teach and require all men
to adore the very Sacrament with Divine honour c. To this
end you hold it out to the people. To this end Corpus
Christi Day was instituted about three hundred years since d.
Yet we know that even upon your own grounds you cannot,
without a particular revelation, have any infallible assurance
that any Host is consecrated; and consequently you have
no assurance that you do not commit material idolatry.
But that which weighs most with us is this, that we dare
not give Divine worship unto any creature, no, not to the
very Humanity of Christ in the abstract (much less to the
Host), but to the Whole Person of Christ, God and Man, by
reason of the hypostatical union between the Child of the
blessed Virgin Mary, and the Eternal Son, " Who is God [Rom. ix.
over all Blessed for ever6/' Shew us such an union betwixt ^
the Deity and the Elements, or accidents, and you say some
thing. But you pretend no such things. The highest that
you dare go is this ; " as they that adored Christ when He
was upon earth, did after a certain kind of manner adore « Quodam
His garments f." Is this all? This is 'after a certain kind modo'"
of manner' indeed. We have enough. There is no more
adoration due to the Sacrament, than to the garments which
Christ did wear upon earth. Exact no more.
Thus the seamless Coat of Christ is torn in pieces ; thus
Faith is minced into shreds, and spun up into niceties, more
subtle than the webs of spiders ; —
" Fidem minutis dissecant ambagibus,
" Ut quisque est lingua nequiors;"
because curious wits cannot content themselves to touch hot
coals with tongs, but they must take them up with their
naked fingers ; nor to apprehend mysteries of religion by
faith, without descanting upon them, and determining them
b ["Nemo...illam Carnem mandu- mentin. lib. iii. Titu1. xvi. De Reliq.
cat, nisi prius adoraverit." August. et Venerat. Sanctor.]
In Ps. xcviii. v. 9. torn. iv. p. 1065. * [See below p. 45 ; and Thornd ike's
C.] Epilogue, bk. iii. c. 30, beginn.]
c [Concil. Trident. Sess. xiii. cap. 5. ' Bellarm. De Sacram. Euchar. lib.
et can. 6.] iv. c. 29. [Op. torn. ii. p. 929. A.]
d Concil. Vienn. [quarti. A.D. 1311. g [Prudent. 'A7ro0ew<r. PrsefV 2dat
See the decree inter Constitut. Cle- vv. 21, 22.]
22
PART by reason, whilst themselves confess that they are incom-
: prehensible by human reason, and imperceptible by man's
imagination ; — how Christ is present in the Sacrament, " can
neither be perceived by sense, nor by imagination11." The
more inexcusable is their presumption to anatomize myste
ries, and to determine supernatural not-revealed truths
upon their own heads, which, if they were revealed, were not
possible to be comprehended by mortal man. As vain an
attempt, as if a child should think to lade out all the water
Deut.xxix. out of the sea with a cockle-shell. " Secret things belong to
the Lord our God, but things revealed unto us, and our
children for ever."
This is the reason why we rest in the words of Christ,
" This is My Body," — leaving the manner to Him that made
the Sacrament. We know it is sacramental, and therefore
efficacious, because God was never wanting to His own ordi
nances, where man did not set a bar against himself: but
whether it be corporeally or spiritually (I mean not only after
the manner of a Spirit, but in a spiritual sense1); whether it
be in the soul only, or in the Host also ; and if in the Host,
whether by consubstantiation or transubstantiation; whether
by production, or adduction, or conservation, or assumption,
or by whatsoever other way bold and blind men dare con
jecture ; — we determine not, " Motum sentimus, modum
nescimus, Prcesentiam credimus^"
This was the belief of the Primitive Church, this was the
Faith of the ancient Fathers, who were never acquainted
with these modern questions de modo, which edify not, but
expose Christian religion to contempt. We know what to
think and what to say with probability, modesty, and sub
mission, in the schools ; but we dare neither screw up the 22
question to such a height, nor dictate our opinions to others
so magisterially as articles of Faith.
" Nescire velle quae Magister maximus
" Docere non vult, erudita est inscitia."
h Thorn. Aqtiin. [Summ.] Pars iii. vol. ix. p. 428 ; see Bellarm. De Sacram.
Qu. 76. Art. 7. [' Respond eo.'] Euchar. lib. i. c. 2. Op. torn. ii. p. 467.
i ["By 'spiritually' they" (Roman B. C.]
Catholics) " mean ' present after the k [A saying of] Durandus [reported
manner of a spirit;' hy ' spiritually' we by Mich. Neander, Synops. Chronicor.
mean 'present to our spirits only.'" fol. 90.]
Jer. Taylor on the Real Pres. sect. 1.
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C.
23
O ! how happy had the Christian world been, if scholars
could have sat down contented with a latitude of general, suffi
cient, saving truth (which when all is done must be the olive-
branch of peace, to shew that the deluge of ecclesiastical
division is abated), without wading too far into particular
subtilties, or " doting about questions and logomachies,
whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse
disputings." Old controversies evermore raise up new con
troversies, and yet more controversies, as circles in the water
do produce other circles.
Now especially these scholastical quarrels seem to be un
seasonable, when Zeno's school is newly opened in the world,
who ' sometimes wanted opinions, but never wanted argu
ments.' Now, when atheism and sacrilege are become the mode
of the times ; now, when all the fundamentals of theology,
morality, and policy, are undermined and ready to be blown
up ; now, when the unhappy contentions of great princes, or
their ministers, have hazarded the very being of monarchy
and Christianity ; now, when Bellona shakes her bloody whip
over this kingdom l ; — it becometh well all good Christians
and subjects, to leave their litigious questions, and to bring
water to quench the fire of civil dissension already kindled,
rather than to blow the coals of discord, and to render them
selves censurable by all discreet persons: like that half-witted
fellow personated in the orator, ' Qui cum capiti mederi debu-
isset, reduviam curavit' — ' when his head was extremely
distempered, he busied himself about a small push on his
finger's endm/
BUT that which createth this trouble to you and me at this
time, is your Preface, and Epistle Dedicatory ; wherein, to
adorn your vainly-imagined 'Victory' in an unseasonable
controversy, you rest not contented that your adversary grace
your triumph, unless the King of Great Britain, and all his
subjects, yea and all Protestants besides, attend your chariot.
Neither do you only desire this, but augurate it ; or rather
DISCOURSE
I.
Against
multiply
ing of
questions
and con
troversies.
[I Tim. vi.
4,5.]
The occa
sion of this
Discourse
[the Pre
face and
Epistle
Dedicatory
ofLaMille-
tiere's"Vic-
toire de la
Verite"].
i [Bramhall appears to have written
his Answer at Paris, where Charles the
Second resided from 1651 to 1654.
France was at war during that period
with both Spain and the Empire, and
suffering at the same time under the
horrors of civil war through the contests
of the 'Mazarins' and 'Frondeurs.'
Paris itself was entered by the Prince of
Conde after a sharp battle, and the
King (Louis XIV., then a minor) driven
out of it, in 1651. See aho below,
p. 78.]
m [Cic. pro Rose. Amerin. c. 44.]
24 THE BISHOP OF DERRY^S ANSWER TO
PART you relate it as a thing already as good as done : for you tell
- him, that ' his eyes and his ears do hear and see those truths,
[La Mule- ~
tiere's which make him to know the faults of that new religion
p.P7.S[mar- which he had sucked in with his milk/ you set forth the
paging.] causes of his conversion, ' the tears of his mother/ and ' the
[PP. is, blood of his father/ whom you suppose (against evident truth)
to have died an invisible member of your Roman Catholic
Church; and you prescribe the means to perfect his con-
[p. 9.] version, which must be ' a conference of your theologians
with the ministers of Charenton/
The indis- If Vour charity be not to be blamed, to wish no worse to
cretion of
the Author another than you do to your sen, vet prudent men desire
discretion in you, than to have presented such a treatise
to the view of the world under his Majesty's protection,
without his license, and against his conscience. Had you
not heard that such groundless insinuations as these, and
other private whisperings concerning his father's apostatizing
to the Roman Religion, did lose him the hearts of many
subjects ? If yon did, why would you insist in the same
steps, to deprive the son of all possibility of recovering them ?
To no pur- If your intention be only to invite his Majesty to embrace
The king the Catholic Faith, you might have spared both your oil and
abetto17 labour. The Catholic Faith nourished 1,200 years in the
San°i!irr worl^ before Transubstantiation was denned among your
self, selves. Persons better acquainted with the primitive times
than yourself (unless you wrong one another) do acknow
ledge, that " the Fathers did not touch either the word or the
matter of transubstantiation"." Mark it well, neither name
nor thing. His Majesty doth firmly believe all supernatural
truth revealed in Sacred Writ. He embraceth cheerfully
whatsoever the Holy Apostles, or the Nicene Fathers, or
blessed Athanasius, in their respective Creeds or Summaries
of Catholic Faith, did set down as necessary to be believed.
n DiscursusModestusJesuitarump.13. " attigerunt."] — [' The first that men-
[" Rem transubstantiatioms Patres ne tion the word Transubstantiation, are
attigisse quidem ;" as quoted by Jer. Petrus Blesensis (in Epist. 140), who
Taylor, Dissuasive P. i. § 5. vol. x. p. lived under Pope Alexander the Third
156.] — Watson's [Decachordon of] (A. D. 1159— 1181), and Stephen Edu-
Quodlibets, Quodlib. 2. Art. 4. [ed. ensis, Bishop of Autun about the year
1602., who there accuses the Jesuits 1 100 (in his Treatise DeSacram. Altar.,
of an 'heretical and most dangerous ap. Biblioth. Patr. torn. x. p. 418. C.).'
assertion,' that "the auncient Fathers Bishop Cosin, Hist, of Transubstant.
rem transubstantiationis ne" (sic) c. 7. § 17.]
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 25
He is ready to receive whatsoever the Catholic Church of this DISCOURSE
age doth unanimously believe to be a particle of saving truth. - '• - •
23 But, if you seek to obtrude upon him the Roman Church,
with its adherents, for the Catholic Church, — excluding
three parts of four of the Christian world from the com
munion of Christ, — or the opinions thereof, for articles and
fundamentals of Catholic Faith; neither his reason, nor his
religion, nor his charity, will suffer him to listen unto you.
The truths received by our Church, are sufficient in point of
Faith to make him a good Catholic. More than this your
Roman Bishops, your Roman Church, your Tridentine
Council, may not, cannot, obtrude upon him.
Listen to the third general Council, that of Ephesus, which Not lawful
decreed, that "it should be lawful for no man to publish
compose another Faith " or Creed "than that which was de- Creed-
fined by the Nicene Council ;" and " that whosoever should
dare to compose or offer any such to any persons willing to
be converted from paganism, Judaism, or heresy, if they
were Bishops or clerks, should be deposed, — if laymen, ana
thematized0." Suffer us to enjoy the same Creed the primitive
Fathers did, " which none will say to have been insufficient,
except they be mad," as was alleged by the Greeks in the
Council of Florence P. You have violated this canon, you
have obtruded a new Creed upon Christendom i ; new, I say,
not in words only, but in sense also.
Some things are de Symbolo, some things are contra Sym- what are
bolum, and some things are only prater Symbolum*. theCreec?
Some things are contained in the Creed, either expressly and w.hat
x * are only ex-
or virtually, either in the letter or in the sense, and may be plications.
deduced by evident consequence from the Creed ; as the
Deity of Christ, His Two Natures, the Procession of the
Holy Ghost. The addition of these was properly no addition,
0 Concil. Eplies. [A.D. 431.] Part. secunda,praesumptionis...; tertia,fidelis
Secund. Act. 6. c. 7. [ap. Labb. Concil. instructionis." Cardin. Bonaventura In
torn. iii. p. 689. A.] Sentent. Prolog, dub. 2., speaking of
p Concil. Florentin. [A.D. 1439.] additions to Scripture. His distinction
Sess, x. [ap. Labb. Concil. torn. xiii. was applied at the Council of Florence
p. 164. D.] (Sess. x. as above, p. 159. C.) to the
q Profess. Fidei in Bull. Pii Quarti. Creeds, in the question of the added
[scil. Tridentina.] Article concerning the Procession of the
r ["Est additio, in qua additum est Holy Spirit from the Son. See also
contrarium ; et est in qua additum est Bramhall's Schism Guarded, sect. i. c.
diversum ; et est in qua additum est 11. (Works, pp. 347, 348. fol. edit),
consonum. Prima additio est erroris ; Discourse iv. Part i.]
26
PART but an explication ; yet such an explication, 110 person,, no
- assembly under an (Ecumenical Council, can impose upon
the Catholic Church8. And such an one your Tridentine
Synod was not*.
[II. Things Secondly, some things are contra Symbolum — contrary to
CSymboium.~] the Symbolical Faith, and either expressly or virtually over
throw some article of it. These additions are not only un
lawful, but heretical also in themselves, and after conviction
render a man a formal heretic : — whether some of your addi
tions be not of this nature, I will not now dispute.
[ULThings Thirdly, some things are neither of the Faith, nor. against
PSymboium ] ^ne Faith, but only besides the Faith ; that is, opinions or
truths of an inferior nature, which are not so necessary to be
actually known : for though all revealed truths be alike
necessary to be believed when they are known, yet all revealed
truths are not alike necessary to be known. It is not denied
but that general or provincial Councils may make constitu
tions concerning these for unity and uniformity, and oblige
all such as are subject to their jurisdiction to receive them,
either actively or passively, without contumacy or opposition.
But to make these, or any of these, a part of the Creed, and to
oblige all Christians under pain of damnation to know and
believe them, is really to add to the Creed, and to change
the Symbolical, Apostolical Faith, to which none can add,
from which none can take away ; and comes within the com-
Gai. i. 8. pass of St. Paul's curse, — " If we, or an Angel from Heaven,
shall preach unto you any other Gospel" (or Faith) " than that
which we have preached, let him be accursed." Such are,
your universality of the Roman Church by the institution of
Christ (to make her the Mother of her Grandmother the
Church of Jerusalem, and the Mistress of her many elder
Sisters), your doctrine of Purgatory and Indulgences, and
the Worship of Images, and all other novelties defined in the
Council of Trent ; all which are comprehended in your new
Roman Creed, and obtruded by you upon all the world to be
8 Thorn. Aquin. [Summ.] Secund. rali, sed Inijusmodi Synodus autlioritate
Secund. Part.Qu.l.Art.10. [viz. 'Utrum solius Summi Pontificis potest congre-
ad Summum Pontificern pertineat Fidei gari."]
Symbolum ordinare:' — a question which r [Bramhall's Vindication of the
Aquinas determines in the affirmative, Church of England, c. 9, heginn., and
but for this, among other reasons, that the corresponding chap, in the Replica-
"editio Symbol! facta estinSynodogene- tion ; Discourses ii. and iii. Part i.]
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 27
believed under pain of damnation. He that can extract all DISCOURSE
these out of the old Apostolic Creed, must needs be an ex
cellent chemist, and may safely undertake to ' draw water
out of a pumice V
That afflictions come not by chance, — that prosperity is no pp. i, 2.
evidence of God's favour, or adversity of His hatred, — that
crosses imposed by God upon His servants, look more for-
wards towards their amendment, than backwards to their sometimes
demerits, and proceed not from a Judge revenging, but from or trials.
a Father correcting, or (which you have omitted) from a Lord
Paramount, proving and magnifying before the world His
own graces in His servants for His glory and their advan-
24tage, — are undeniable truths which we readily admit. As
likewise, that the dim eye of man cannot penetrate into the
secret dispensations of God's temporal judgments and mercies
in this life, so as to say, this man is punished, that other
chastised, this third is only proved.
But you forget all this soon after, when you take upon you to Which the
search into, yea more, to determine, the grounds and reasons, ^sentiy
why 'the Hand of God/ as well as the Parliament, 'hath been so forsets-
heavy upon the head of his late Majesty, and his Royal son:' p' 2'
namely, on God's part, ' because he called himself 'The Head P. 4.
of the Church/ God purposing by his punishment to teach all
other Princes that are in the schism, with what severity He
can vindicate His glory, in the injury done unto the unity
and authority of His Church / and on the Parliament's part,
'because he would not consent to the abolition of Episcopacy, [p. 2.]
and suppression of the Liturgy and ceremonies established in
the Church of England.'
First, what warrant have you to enquire into the actions of Better
that blessed Saint and Martyr, which of them should be the f ™8uflfe?/
causes of his sufferings ? not remembering that the Disciples ™ff °* his
received a check from their Master upon the like presump- [Charles
tion ; " Who sinned, this man, or his parents, that he was than those
born blind ? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, Author,
nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made ^ohn ix> 2j
manifest in him."
The heroical virtues, the naming charity, the admirable
u [" Aquam a pumice postulare." Plant. Pers. i. 1. 42.]
28
THE BISHOP OF DERBY'S ANSWER TO
PART
I.
Ps. cxxviii
3.
The Au
thor's rash
censure
upon the
Arch
bishop of
Canter
bury
[Laud].
. 3.]
patience, the rare humility, the exemplary chastity, the con
stant and frequent devotions, and the invincible courage of
that happy Prince, not daunted with the ugly face of a
most horrid death, have rendered him the glory of his coun
try, the honour of that Church whereof he was the chiefest
member, the admiration of Christendom, and a pattern for all
princes, of what communion soever, to imitate unto the end
of the world. His sufferings were palms, his prison a Para
dise, and his death-day the birth-day of his happiness x : —
whom his enemies advantaged more by their cruelty, than
they could have done by their courtesy ; they deprived him
of a corruptible crown, and invested him with a crown of
glory; they snatched him from the sweet society of his
dearest spouse, and from most hopeful " olive branches," to
place him in the bosom of the Holy Angels. This alone is
ground enough for his sufferings, — to manifest unto the world
those transcendent and unparalleled graces, wherewith God
had enriched him, to which his sufferings gave the greatest
lustre, as the stars shine brightest in a dark night.
The like liberty you assume towards the other most
glorious martyr, the late Archbishop of Canterbury, a man of
profound learning, and exemplary life, of clean hands, of a
most sincere heart, a patron of all good learning, a professor
of ancient truth ; a great friend, indeed, and earnest pursuer,
of order, unity, and uniformity in religion, but most free
from all sinister ends, either avaricious or ambitious, where
with you do uncharitably charge him, as if he sought only his
own grandeur, ' to make himself the head of a schismatical
body/ In brief, you therefore censure him, because you did
not know him. I wish all your great ecclesiastics had his
innocency, and fervent zeal for God's Church and the peace
thereof, to plead for them at the Day of Judgment.
By applying these particular afflictions according to your
own ungrounded fancy, what a wide gap have you opened to
the liberty and boldness of other men ! who, if they should
assume to themselves the same freedom that you have done,
might say as much, with as much reason, concerning the
* [" TV rov [tapTvpiov avrov fofpav Eccles. lib. iv. c. 15. p. 135. B. ed.
yeved\iov." Epist. Eccles. Smyrn. de Vales.]
Polycarp. Martyr, ap. Euseb. Hist.
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA M ILLETIERE, &C. 29
pressures of other great princes abroad, — that God afflicts DISCOURSE
them, because they will not become Protestants, — as you can -
say that God afflicted our late King, because he would not
turn Papist.
But if you will not allow his Majesty's sufferings to be Sovereigns
merely probatory, and if (for your satisfaction) there must be
a weight of sin found out to move the wheel of God's justice,
why do you not rather fix upon the body of his subjects, or subjects.
at least a disloyal part of them ? We confess that the best of
us did not deserve such a jewel; that God might justly snatch
him from us in His wrath for our ingratitude. Reason, reli
gion, and experience do all teach us, that it is usual with
Almighty God to look upon a body politic, or ecclesiastic, as
25 one man, and to deprive a perverse people of a good and
gracious governor ; as an expert physician, by opening a vein
in one member, cures the distempers of another. " For the Prov.
transgressions of a land, many are the princes thereof." xxviiL 2-
It may be that two or three of our princes at the most (the Not above
greater part whereof were Roman Catholics) did style them-
selves, or give others leave to style them, the ' Heads of the
Church within their dominions y.' But no man can be so Heads of
simple as to conceive that they intended a spiritual Headship, th
— to infuse the life and motion of grace into the hearts of the
faithful; such an Head is Christ alone; no, nor yet an
ecclesiastical Headship ; we did never believe, that our Kings
in their own persons could exercise any act pertaining either
to the power of order or jurisdiction ; nothing can give that
to another, which it hath not itself. They meant only a civil That is,
or political Head, as Saul is called "the Head of the Tribes caiHefds!"
of Israel ;" to see that public peace be preserved ; to see that 1 7Sam- xv-
all subjects, as well ecclesiastics as others, do their duties in
y [The title of " In terris, or terra, reign by Queen Mary ; dropped by the
Ecclesise Anglicanae et Hibernicas su- last named Queen upon her marriage
premum Caput" was assumed by with Philip of Spain (see Stat. 1. and
Henry the Eighth, A. D. 1534 (Stat. 2. Philip and Mary, c. 8. sec. 23.);
26. Henry VIII. c. ] ; see also 35 exchanged by Queen Elizabeth for that
Henry VIII. c. 3. and 37 Henry VIII. of " Supreme Governor, &c. as well in
c. 17); continued by Edward the Sixth all spiritual and ecclesiastical causes
(see Stat. 1. Edward VI. c. 12. sec. 6.,) etc." (Oath of Supremacy, Stat. 1.
by Lady Jane Grey (Proclamation, in Eliz. c. 1.) ; and never since resumed.
Lord Somers' Tracts, vol. i. p. 53 ; she Coke upon Littleton, 7. b. ; — Nicolson's
is omitted of course from BramhaU's Eng. Histor. Library, Pt. iii. c. 1. pp.
reckoning), and in the beginning of her 178, 1 79. 3rd edit.]
30
THE BISHOP or BERRY'S ANSWER TO
PART
I.
The Chris
tian Em
perors poli
tical Heads.
The old
Kings of
England
political
Heads.
their several places; to see that all things be managed for
that great and architectonical end, that is, the weal and
benefit of the whole body politic, both for soul and body.
If you will not trust me, hear our Church itself : — ' When we
attribute the sovereign government [of the Church] to the
King, we do not give him any power to administer the Word
or Sacraments; but only that prerogative which God in Holy
Scripture hath always allowed to godly princes, to see that
all states and orders of their subjects, ecclesiastical and civil,
do their duties, and to punish those who are delinquent with
the civil sword2/ Here is no power ascribed, no punishment
inflicted, but merely political ; and this is approved and justi
fied by S. Clara3, both by reason, and by the examples of the
Parliament of Paris : yet, by virtue of this political power, he
is the keeper of both Tables, the preserver of true piety towards
God, as well as right justice towards men ; and is obliged to
take car^ of the souls, as well as the skins and carcasses, of
his subjects.
This power, though not this name, the Christian Emperors b
of old assumed unto themselves; — to convocate Synods, to pre
side in Synods, to confirm Synods, to establish ecclesiastical
laws, to receive appeals, to nominate Bishops, to eject Bishops,
to suppress heresies, to compose ecclesiastical differences, in
Councils, out of Councils, by themselves, by their delegates :
all which is as clear in the history of the Church, as if it were
written with a beam of the sun.
This power, though not this name, the ancient Kings of
England c ever exercised, not only before the Reformation, but
before the Norman Conquest ; as appears by the acts of their
great Councils, by their Statutes, and Articles of the Clergy.,
by so many laws of provision against the Bishop of Rome's
conferring ecclesiastical dignities and benefices upon foreign
ers, by so many sharp oppositions against the exactions and
usurpations of the Church of Rome, by so many laws con
cerning the patronage of Bishoprics and investitures of
z Art. 37. [in substance, and the
clause between brackets added.]
a Expos. Paraph. Artie. Confess.
Anglic, art. 37. [pp. 410, 411. Lugd.
1635.]
b [Bramhall's Vindication of the
Church of England, c. 6. (Works,
pp. 88. 91. fol. edit), Discourse ii.
Part i.]
c [Bramhall's Vindication &c. c. 4.
(Works, pp. 69, &c. fol. edit.), with the
corresponding chap, in the Replication
(Works, pp. 189, &c. fol. edit.), Dis
courses ii. and iii. Part i.]
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 31
Bishops, by so many examples of churchmen punished by the DISCOURSE
civil magistrate : of all which jewels the Roman Court had L
undoubtedly robbed the Crown,, if the Peers and Prelates of
the Kingdom had not come in to the rescue. By the ancient
laws of England it is death, or at least a forfeiture of all his
goods, for any man to publish the Pope's Bull without the
King's license. The Pope's Legate without the King's leave
could not enter into the realm. If an Ordinary did refuse to
accept a resignation, the King might supply his defect. If any
ecclesiastical court did exceed the bounds of its just power,
either in the nature of the cause, or manner of proceeding,
the King's prohibition had place d. So in effect the Kings of
England were always the political ' Heads of the Church'
within their own dominions. So the Kings of France are at
this day.
But who told you that ever King Charles did call himself Neither
the 'Head of the Church?' thereby to merit such a heavy
judgment. He did not, nor yet King James his father ;
nor Queen Elizabeth before them both, who took order in her noQEH-'
first Parliament to have it left out of her title6. They thought style'
that name did sound ill, and that it intrenched too far upon
the right of their Saviour f. Therefore they declined it, and
were called only ' Supreme Governors, in all causes, over all
persons ecclesiastical and civil % ;' which is a title de jure in-
26 separable from the crown of all Sovereign Princes : where it
is wanting de facto (if any place be so unhappy to want it),
the King is but half a King, and the Commonwealth a serpent
with two heads.
Thus, you see, you are doubly, and both ways miserably,
mistaken. First, King Charles did never style himself ' Head
of the Church,' nor could with patience endure to hear that
title. Secondly, a political Headship is not 'injurious to the [p. 3.]
d See authorities for all these in Lord as well as the anecdote of the latter
Coke's Reports, Caudrey's case, [part mentioned a few lines further on, might
5. case 1.] easily have come within the sphere of
e [See above, note y, p. 29.] Bramhall's own knowledge. There does
f [Queen Elizabeth's sentiments may not appear to be any mention else-
be found in the well-known letter of where, in the case of either monarch,
Jewel to Bullinger (Collier's Church of the precise point in question.]
Hist. Pt. ii. bk. vi. vol. ii. p. 432. fol. g [Oath of Supremacy. Stat 1. Eliz.
edit.). King James speaks somewhat to c. 1. repealed 1. Will, and Mary, Sess.
the same purpose in his Apologia pro 1. c. 8.— Canon. 1603. art. i. in Can.
Jurament. Fidelitat. in fin.; but both 36, still in force.]
his sentiments and those of King Charles,
THE BISHOP OF DERRY^S ANSWER TO
PART
The AU-
factionTto"
leave that
vain title.
unity, or authority, of the Church/ The Kings of Israel and
Judah, the Christian Emperors, the English Kings before the
Reformation, yea, even before the Conquest, and other
sovereign princes of the Roman communion have owned it
signally11.
But it seems you have been told, or have read this, in the
virulent writings of Sanders1, or Parsonsk, or have heard of a
ludicrous scoffing proposition of a marriage between the two
Heads of the two Churches, Sixtus Quintus and Queen
Elizabeth, for the reuniting forsooth of Christendom.
All the satisfaction I should enjoin you, is to persuade the
Bishop of Rome (if Gregory the Great were living, you
cou^ no^ fa^ °f speeding1,) to imitate the piety and humility
of our princes ; that is, to content himself with his Patri
archal dignity and primacy of order ' et principium unitatis™,'
and to quit that much more presumptuous, and (if a Pope's
word may pass for current) antichristian", term of the ' Head
of the Catholic Church/ If the Pope be the Head of the
Catholic Church, then the Catholic Church is the Pope's
body, wThich would be but a harsh expression to Christian
ears ; then the Catholic Church should have no Head, when
there is no Pope ; two or three Heads, when there are two or
three Popes ; an unsound Head, when there is an heretical
Pope ; a broken Head, when the Pope is censured or deposed ;
and no Head, when the See is vacant. If the Church must
have one universal, visible, ecclesiastical Head, a general
Council may best pretend to that title.
h [Bramhall's Vindication, &c. cc. 6,
7 ; Discourse ii. Part i.]
' [De Visib. Monarch. Eccles. lib.
vii. p. 151 — De Clave David, lib. v.
c. 3. pp. 114, sq. lib. vi. c. 1. sec. 6.
pp. 145, sq. sec. 8. p. 150. Wiirzb.
1592 — De Schism. Anglic, lib. iii. pp.
257, sq. Col. 1628.]
k [Warnword to Sir F. Hastings'
Watchword, Encount. vi. in fin Warn
word to Sir F. Hastings' Wasteword,
Encount i. c. 16. § 3. &c. c. 17. § 8.
&c — Three Conversions of Engl. P. i.
c. 12. § 5.]
1 [The protest of Gregory the Great
against the assumption of the title of
' Episcopus -Universalis ' (or in other
words, Head of the Catholic Church)
by John, Patriarch of Constantinople,
may be found in his letters ; to John
himself — Epist. lib. v. epist. 18., to
others— Ibid. lib. v. epist. 20. 21. 43.
lib. ix. epist. 68. Op. torn. ii. ed.
Bened.]
m [" Petri cathedram . . . ecclesiam
principalem, unde unitas sacerdotalis
exorta est." Cyprian, ad Cornelium,
Epist. 59. pp. 135, 136. " Unitatis
ejusdem" (Ecclesiae) "originem abuno"
(Petro) " incipientem." Id. De Uni-
tate, Op. p. 107. " Ecclesia .... super
Petrum origine unilatis . . . fundata."
Id. ad Januar. &c., Epist. 70. p.
190.]
n [Greg. M. Epist lib. v. epist 21.
Op. torn. ii. p. 751. C. — see also lib.
v. epist 43. ibid. p. 773. B. and lib. ix.
epist. 68. ibid. p. 984. C.]
THE EPISTLE OP M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 33
Neither are you more successful in your other reason, why DISCOURSE
the Parliament persecuted the King; — 'because he maintained _ -
Episcopacy, both out of conscience and interest, which they EJ
sought to abolish.' For though it be easily admitted that notthetrue
T,. T cause why
some seditious and heterodox persons had an evil eye both the Pariia-
against monarchy and Episcopacy from the very beginning ScStedThe
of these troubles, either out of a fiery zeal, or vain affectation King'
of novelty (like those, who having the green-sickness prefer *
chalk and meal in a corner before wholesome meat at their
father's table), or out of a greedy and covetous desire of
gathering some sticks for themselves upon the fall of those
great oaks ; yet certainly they, who were the contrivers and
principal actors in this business, did more malign Epis
copacy for monarchy's sake, than monarchy for Episcopacy's.
What end had the Nuncio's faction in Ireland against Epis
copacy ? whose mutinous courses apparently lost that king
dom0. When the King's consent to the abolition of Episco
pacy in Scotland was extorted from him by the Presbyterian
faction (which probably the prime authors do rue sufficiently
by this time), were those Presbyterian Scots any thing more
favourable to monarchy? To come to England, the chief
scene of this bloody tragedy ; if that party in Parliament had
at first proposed any such thing as the abolition either of
monarchy or Episcopacy, undoubtedly they had ruined their
whole design ; until daily tumults and uncontrollable uproars
had chased away the greater, and sounder, part of both
Houses : — their first protestation was solemnly made to God,
both for King and Church, as they were by law established?.
Would you know then what it was that conjured up the The true
storm among us ? It was some feigned jealousies and fears theStrou-
(which the first broachers themselves knew well enough to be
fables), dispersed cunningly among the people, — that the
King purposed to subvert the fundamental laws of the King-
0 [John Baptista Rinuccini, Arch- fully, from his own Memoirs, in Carte's
bishop of Fermo, was sent into Ireland Life of the D. of Ormond, vol. i. bk. iv.
by Innocent X. as his nuncio, in 1615. pp. 558, &c.]
An account of his proceedings, which i> [See the ' Solemn Protestation,' taken
certainly had no connection whatever by the House of Commons May 3, and
with Episcopacy as such, may be by the House of Lords May 4, 5, 7, 10,
found in Clarendon's Historical View of and 11, A. D. 1641, in Nalson, vol. i.
the Affairs of Ireland from 1640 to 1652, pp. 810, 811, and Clarend. Hist, of the
printed at the end of his Hist, of the Rebel!., bk. iii. vol. i. pp. 335, 336.]
RebelL, vol. iii. pp. 1019, &c., and more
BRAMHALL.
34,
PART dom, and to reduce the free English subject to a condition of
— absolute slavery under an arbitrary government ; for which
massy weight of malicious untruth they had no supporters,
II. but a few bulrushes. Secondly, that he meant to apostate
from the Protestant religion to Popery, and to that end had
raised the Irish Rebellion by secret encouragements and
commissions : for which monstrous calumny they had no
other foundation (except the solemn religious order of Divine
service in his own chapel and cathedral churches), than some
unseasonable disputes about an Altar or a Table ; and the
permission of the Pope's agent to make a short stay in Eng
land % more for reason of state than of religion ; and some
senseless fictions of some Irish rebels', who having a patent
under the Great Seal of Ireland for their lands, to colour their
barbarous murders, shewed it to the poor simple people as a
commission from the King to levy forces ; and, lastly, some
impious pious frauds of some of your own party, whose private
whispers and printed insinuations did give hopes that the
Church of England was coming about to shake hands with
the Roman in the points controverted ; which was merely
devised to gull some silly creatures, whom they found apt to
be caught with chaff ; for which they had no more pretext of
truth than you have for your groundless intimations in this
unwelcome Dedication.
These suspicions being compounded with covet ousness,
ambition, envy, emulation, desire of revenge, and discontent,
were the source of all our calamities. Thus much you your
self confess in effect ; — that ' this supposition, that the King
p. 3< and Bishops had an intention to re-establish the Roman
Catholic religion, was the venom which the Puritan faction
infused into the hearts of the people, to fill them with hatred
against a King worthy of love ; and the Parliament judged it
q [There appear to have been two sociates. See Clarendon's Historical
agents from the Pope successively per- View of the Affairs of Ireland, &c. as
mitted to reside publicly in London, above, p. 1005. — Carte's Life of the
"first, Mr. Con, a Scottishman, and D. of Ormond, bk. iii. vol. i. pp. 179,
after him the Count Rosetti an Italian." &c., — and Hume's Hist, of Engl.,
Clarend. Hist, of the Rebell. bk. ii. vol. i. Reign of Charles I. c. vi. vol. v. p.
p. 209. See also Lord Somers' Tracts, 304, and note. The calumny, that
vol. iv.pp. 50, &c. Con came to England King Charles the First was concerned
in 1 636 ( Wood' s Athen. Oxon. by Bliss, with the Irish Rebellion, is refuted
vol. iii. p. 387), and Rosettileft England at length by Bramhall in his Serpent
in 1641 (Nelson, vol. ii. p. 328).] Salve (Works, pp. 589, &c. fol. edit.),
r [Sir Phelim O'Neale, and his as- Discourse ii. Part ii.]
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 35
a favourable occasion for their design, to advance themselves DISCOURSE
to Sovereign authority.' Be judge yourself how much they '
are accessory to our sufferings, who either were, or are, the
authors or foment ers of these damnable slanders.
There was yet one cause more of this cruel persecution,
which I cannot conceal from you, because it concerns some
of your old acquaintance. There was a Bishop5 in the world
(losers must have leave to talk) whose privy purse and subtle
counsels did help to kindle that unnatural war in his Majesty's
three Kingdoms. Our Cardinal, Wolsey, complained before
his death, 'That he had served his King better than his God4:'
but certainly this practice in your friendu was neither good
service to his God, to be the author of the effusion of so much
innocent blood; nor yet to his King, to let the world see
such a dangerous precedent. ' It is high time for a man to
look to himself, when his next neighbour's house is all on a
flame*.'
As hitherto I have followed your steps, though not alto
gether in your own method, or rather your own confusion;
so I shall observe the same course for the future. Your
discourse is so full of Mceanders and windings, turnings and
returnings ; you congregate heterogeneous matter, and segre
gate that which is homogeneous ; as if you had made your
Dedication by starts and snatches, and never digested your
whole discourse. On the contrary, where I meet with any
thing, it shall be my desire to dispatch it out of my hands,
with whatsoever pertains unto it, once for all. I hope you
expect not that I should amuse myself at your rhetorical
flowers and elegant expressions : they agree well enough
with the work you were about; "the pipe plays sweetly,
whilst the fowler is catching his preyy." Trappings are not
s [Cardinal Richelieu (who died in Reign of Charles I. vol. iv. cc. 3, 4.]
1642); to whose intrigues, both with the * [Life of Wolsey in Wordsworth's
Scotch, amongst whom he had an ac- Eccles. Biogr. vol. i. p. 636. 3rd edit,
credited agent, and with the English Shakesp. Henry VIII. act iii. sc. 2.]
Parliamentarians, considerable weight u [See note a, p. 7.]
has been attributed in bringing about x ["Nam tua res agitur, paries cum
the Rebellion: see the 'Negotiations proximus ardet." Horat. Epist. I. xviii.
du Comte d'Estrades,' torn. i. letters 1 84.]
and 2 — Whitelocke's Memorials &c. of y [" Noli homines blando nimium
Charles^I. and II., pp. 22. 31.— Cla- sermone probare :"
rend. Hist, of the Rebell. bk ii. vol. i. " Fistula dulce canit, volucrem
p. 182; bk. vi. vol. ii. p. 123. — dum decipit auceps."
D'Israeli's Comment, on the Life and Dionys. Caton. Distich. lib. i. distich 27-]
36
THE BISHOP OF DERRY S ANSWER TO
PART
We arc only
accused
of schism.
Presbyte
rians and
Brownists
have been
Rome's
best
friends.
pp. 3, 4.
to be condemned, if the things themselves are good and use
ful ; but I prefer one pomegranate tree laden with good fruit,
before a whole row of cypresses z, that serve only for show.
Be sure of this, that, where any thing in your Epistle reflects
upon the Church of England, I shall not miss it first or last,
though it be but a loose unjointed piece, and so perhaps
hitherto untouched.
Amongst other things which you lay to our charge, you
glance, at the least twelve times, at our supposed schism;
but from first to last, never attempt to prove it, as if you
took it for granted. I have shaped a coat for a schismatic,
and had presented it to you in this Answer ; but, considering
that the matter is of moment, and merits as much to be
seriously and solidly weighed as your naked crimination
without all pretext of proof deserves to be slighted, lest it might
seem here, as an impertinent digression, to take up too much
place in this short discourse, I have added it at the conclu
sion of this Answer in a short tract by itself a, that you may
peruse it if you please.
You fall heavily, in this discourse, upon the Presbyterians,
Brownists, and Independents. If they intend to return you
any answer, they may send it by a messenger of their own.
As for my part, I arn not their proctor, I have received no
fee from them. And if I should undertake to plead their 28
cause upon my own head, by our old English law you might
call me to an account for unlawful maintenance b. Only give
me leave, as a by-stander, to wonder why you are so choleric
against them, for certainly they have done you more service
in England than ever you could have done for yourselves.
And I wonder no less why you call our Eeformation 'a
Calvinistical reformation, brought into England by Bucer,
and Peter Martyr -,' a 'blind reformation/ yea, fthe entire
ruin of the Eaith, of the very form of the Church, and of the
civil government of the Commonwealth instituted by God ;'
z [" KviraptrTOV Kapir6s, — de verbis
dictu magnificis, caeterum inutilibus."
Erasm. Adag. Chil. iv. cent. 3. prov. 1 0.]
a [Viz. the Vindication of the Church
of England, Discourse ii. Part i. which,
it seems, was at first intended to have
been merely an appendix to the Answer
to La Milletiere,]
b ["Maintenance, manutentio et manu-
tenentia, signifies the upholding of a
cause or person ; metaphorically drawn
from succouring a young child, that
learns to go by one's hand. In law, it
is taken in the worst sense, as appears
by 32 Henry VIII. c. 9." Cowel's In
terpret, sub voce. Lond. 1701.]
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 37
though you confess again in our favour,, that ' if our first DISCOURSE
Reformers had been interrogated, whether they meant any -
such thing, they would have purged themselves, and avouched p' '
their innocence with their hands upon the new Gospel/ 'The
gifts of enemies are no gifts0/ If such as these are all your
courtesies, you may be pleased to take them again. Our
first Reformers might safely swear upon the Gospel, old or
new, that they meant no such thing ; and we may as securely
swear upon all the Books of God, old or new, that there is no
such thing. But why our Gospel should be younger or
newer than Sixtus Quintus his Gospel, or Clemens Octavus
his Gospel, passeth my understanding, and yours also.
Comparisons are odious; therefore I will not say, that the [TheEng.
true English Protestant, standing to his own grounds, is the fomSkm
best subject in the world : but I do say, that he is as good a J^f the
subject as any in the world, and our principles as innocent, civil s°-
.... . ., } vernment.l
and as auxiliary to civil government, as the maxims of any
Church under heaven; and more than yours, where the
clashing of two supreme authorities, and the exemption of
your numerous clergy from the coercive power of the prince,
and some other novelties, which I forbear to mention, do
alway threaten a storm. Tell me, Sir, if you can, what
Church in Europe hath declared more fully or more favour
ably for monarchy than the poor Church of England :— that
" the most high and sacred order of Kings is of Divine right,
being the Ordinance of God Himself, founded in the prime
laws of nature, and clearly established by express texts
both of the Old and New Testament/' moreover, that
' this power is extended over all their subjects, ecclesiastical
and civil ;' that " to set up any independent coactive power
above them, either Papal or popular, either directly or
indirectly, is to undermine their great Royal Office, and
cunningly to overthrow that most sacred Ordinance, which
God Himself hath established ;" that " for their subjects to
bear arms against them, offensive or defensive, upon any
pretence whatsoever, is to resist the powers which are or
dained of God d."
[" Exepaw faapa 8%>a." Soph. Aj. made A. D. 1640 at London and York,
can. 1. " Concerning the regal power"
i L. Cant. [Liber Canonum ?] 1640. —in Wilkins' Concil. Magn. Britann. e.t
c. 1. [Constitutions and Canons Ecclcs. Hibern. vol. iv. p. 545.]
38 THE BISHOP OF DERRY's ANSWER TO
PART And why do you call our Reformation Calvinistical ? con-
- : - trary to your own conscience ; contrary to your own confes-
lish Re-a sion, that ' in our Reformation we retained the ancient Order
of Episcopacy, as instituted by Divine authority, and a Liturgy,
isticai. an(j ceremonies^ whereby we preserved the face, or image, of
p* t the Catholic Church f and that ' for this very cause the
Disciplinarians of Geneva, and the Presbyterians, did con
ceive an implacable hatred against the King for the Church's
sake, and out of their aversion to it/ Did they hate their
own Reformation so implacably ? If these things be to be
reconciled, " reddat mihi minam Diogenes e." He, that looks
more in disputation to the advantage of his party than to
the truth of his grounds, had need of a strong memory. We
retained not only Episcopacy, Liturgy, and ceremonies, but
all things else that were conformable to the discipline and
public service of the Primitive Church rightly understood.
No, Sir, we cannot pin our Faith upon the sleeve of any
particular man : as one f used to say, ' We love no nisms,
neither Calvinism, nor Lutheranism, nor Jansenianism, but
[Acts xi. only one, that we derive from Antioch, that is, Christianism/
26-] We honour learning and piety in our fellow-servants, but we
desire to wear no other badge or cognizance than that we
received from our own Master at our Baptism. Bucer was as
fit to be Calvin's master, as his scholar. So long as Calvin
continued with him in Germany, he was for Episcopacy,
Liturgy, and ceremonies s (and for assurance thereof subscribed
the Augustan Confession11); and his late learned successor
e ["Cum aliquid liujusmodi inci- p. 49), then in England: and his re-
derat, sic ludere Carneades solebat ; ' Si peated testimony in favour of Episco-
recte conclusi, teneo : sin vitiose, minam pacy has been collected by Bp. Hall in
Diogenes reddat.' Ab eo enim Stoico his ''Episcopacy by Divine Right,"
dialecticamdidicerat:hsecautemmerces Introd. sect. 2. vol. x. pp. 147, 148.
erat dialecticorum." Cic.Lucull.xxx.] Oxf. 1837, and by Bramhall himself,
f M. Tho. Sq. [The Editor is un- "Replication," c. 1. (Works, p. 161.
able to conjecture for whom these ini- fol. edit.), Discourse iii. Part i. — Vin-
tials were intended.] dication of Episcop. Clergy, c. 4. (as
e [Calvin's residence with Bucer at above, pp. 620, 621.), Discourse iii.
Strasburg, during his temporary exile Part ii.]
from Geneva, lasted from A. D. 1538 »» [The Confession of Augsburg
to A. D. 1541 (Beza's Life of Calvin drawn up by Melancthon A. D. 1530;
prefixed to his Works, Amst. 1667). which acknowledges Episcopacy as such,
He spoke decidedly in favour of Litur- protesting only against abuses : see c.
gies and set forms of prayer at a still vii. De Potest. Eccles. in fin. Calvin
later period, — see his letter to the Pro- mentions his former signature and con-
tector Somerset, Oct. 22, 1549. (Op. tinned approval of it in a letter to
torn. ix. pp. 39, sq.), written at the re- Martin Schaling, A. D. 1557, Op. torn.
quest of Bucer (Calvin to Bucer, ibid. ix. p. 113.]
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 39
and assertor in Geneva, Monsieur Deodate, with sundry DISCOURSE
29 others of that communion, were not averse from them1. Or '
why do you call Reformation blind? It was not blindness,
but too much affectation of knowledge, and too much peeping
into controverted and new-fangled questions, that hath en-
damaged our religion. It is you that teach the Collier's
Creed k, not we.
Howsoever you pretend to prove, that our Reformation was
the ruin of the Church and Commonwealth ; we expect you
should endeavour to prove it. You cannot so far mistake
yourself, as to conceive your authority to be the same with
us that Pythagoras had among his scholars, to have his
dictates received for oracles without proof. What did I say, —
that you pretend to prove it ? That's too low an expression ;
you promise us " a demonstration of it, so lively and evident, [p. 4.]
that no reason shall be able to contradict it." Are you not
afraid, that too much expectation should prejudice your dis
course by diminishing our applause ?
" Quid tanto dignum feret hie promissor hiatu 1 ?"
Do you think of nothing now but triumphs ? ' Lively and
evident demonstration, not to be contradicted by reason/ is
like the phoenix, much talked of, but seldom seen. Most
men, when they see a man strip up his sleeves and make too
large promises of fair dealing, do suspect juggling. ' No man
proclaimeth in the market that he hath rotten wares to sell/
And therefore we must be careful, notwithstanding your
great promises, to keep well Epicharmus his jewel, ' Remember
to distrust"1/ By your permission, your glistering ' demonstra-
1 [Deodate is said (in a note to a scribed by their own" (Roman Catliolie)
contemporary translation of his Answer " Bishop. ' The collier being demanded
to the Westminster Assembly, p. 6. what he believed, answered, That which
Newcastle 1647.) to have been one of the Church believeth; and being asked,
those ministers at the Synod of Dort in What the Church believed, answered,
1619, who expressed to Bp. Carleton That which I believe.'" Morton's
(Collier's Ch. Hist. pt. ii. bk. viii. vol. Catholic Appeal, bk. v. c, 28. § 2, from
ii. p. 718, fol. edit.) their approbation Espencseus in 2 Tim. cap. iii. num. 17.
of Episcopacy, and regret at their own p. 119, who, however, it must be added,
want of it. For the 'sundry others,' does not consider the Creed so expressed
who held the same sentiments, see to be sufficient.]
Bramhall's Serpent Salve (Works, pp. 1 [Horat. A. P. 138.]
599, &c. fol. edit.), Discourse ii. m ["Nrj^eKol^eVvao-' a7r«rTetf &p6pa
Part ii.] raura fiav (pptvuv." ap. Cic. ad Attic.
k [The Collier's Creed " is thus de- i. 19.]
40
THE BISHOP OF DERRY S ANSWER TO
PART
I.
Reforma
tion is
sometimes
necessary.
Reforma
tion riot
agreeable
to all per
sons, espe
cially the
Court of
Rome.
FJohn xii.
6.]
There is
danger in
reforma
tion.
tion' is a very counterfeit,, not so valuable as a Bristol diamond,
when it comes to be examined by the wheel.
Sometimes nothing is more necessary than reformation.
Never was house so well builded, that now and then needed
not reparation; never garden so well planted, but must
sometimes be weeded ; never any order so well instituted, but
in long tract of time there will be a bending and declining from
its primitive perfection, and a necessity of reducing it to its
first principles. Are your Houses of Religion which are
reformed, therefore the less religious ? Why then did all the
princes and commonwealths in Europe, yea, the Fathers
themselves in the Council of Trent", cry out so often, so
earnestly, for a reformation ? yet were forced to content
themselves with a vain shadow for the substance, as Ixion
embraced a cloud for Juno, or children are often stilled with
an empty bottle.
But reformation is not agreeable to all persons. Judas
loved not an audit, because he ' kept the bag -,' dull lethargic
people had rather sleep to death, than be awaked ; and mad
phrenetic bigots are apt to beat the chirurgeon that would
bind up their wounds ; but none are so averse from reforma
tion as the Court of Rome, where the very name is more
formidable than Hannibal at the gates ; yea, than all the five
terrible things. No marvel they are afraid to have their
oranges squeezed to their hands; if they were infallible as
they pretend, there was no need of a reformation ; we wish
they were, but we see they are not.
On the other side, it cannot be denied that reformation,
when it is unseasonable, or inordinate, or excessive, may do
more hurt than good : when reformers want just authority,
or due information, or have sinister ends ; or where the
remedy may be of worse consequence than the abuse ; or
where men run out of one extreme into another. Therefore
it is a rule in prudence, ' Not to remove an ill custom, when
it is well settled/ unless it bring great prejudices ; and then
1 it is better to give one account why we have taken it away,
11 [See for instance the Orat. Exhor-
tatoria Pnesidum Cone. Trident, at the
commencement of the eleventh session,
and the speech delivered at the Council
expressly upon the Reformation of the
Church hy Antonius Paganus (in the
Append, to the Hist, of the Council in
Labb. Concil. torn. xiv. pp. 1912, sq,)-]
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 41
than to be always making excuses why we do it not0/ Needless DISCOURSE
alteration doth diminish the venerable esteem of religion, —
and lessen the credit of ancient truths. ' Break ice in one
place, and it will crack in more/ ' Crooked sticks, by bending
straight, are sometimes broken into two/
There is a right mean between these extremes, if men The right
could light on it ; that is, neither to destroy the body out of formatidii."
hatred to the sores and ulcers, nor yet to cherish the sores
and ulcers out of a doating affection to the body; that is,
neither to destroy ancient institutions out of a zealous hatred
to some new abuses, nor yet to doat so upon ancient institu
tions, as for their sakes to cherish new abuses.
Our Reformation is just as much the cause of the ruin of Our Re-
30 our Church and Commonwealth, as the building of Tenderden not the ruin
steeple was the cause of Goodwin's sands, or the ruin of the Qiurch,' or
country thereabouts, because they happened both much about
the same time?. "Careat successibus opto," — ' may he ever
want success who judgeth of actions by the events/ Our
Reformation hath ruined the Faith, just as the plucking up of
weeds in a garden ruins the good herbs. It hath ruined the
Church, just as a body full of superfluous and vicious humours
is ruined by a healthful purgation. It hath ruined the Com
monwealth, just as pruning of the vine ruins the elm. No,
no, Sir, our sufferings for the Faith, for the Church, for the
Monarchy, do proclaim us innocent to all the world, of the
ruin either of Faith, or Church, or Monarchy. And in this
capacity we choose rather to starve as innocents, than to
swim in plenty as nocents.
But this is but one of your doubles to keep us from the
right form. It is your new Roman Creed that hath ruined
the Faith. It is your Papal Court that hath ruined the
Church. It is your new doctrines of the Pope's omnipotence
over temporal persons in order unto spiritual ends, of absolv
ing subjects from their oaths of allegiance, of exempting the
clergy from secular jurisdiction, of the lawfulness of murder
ing tyrants and excommunicated princes, of equivocation and
0 [" Malo semel excusare quare fece- q [" . . . Careat successibus opto,
rim quam semper quare non fecerim." " Quisquis ab eventu facta notanda
Seneca.] putat."
p fSee Latimer's Last Sermon before Ovid. Heroid. Ep. ii. 85, 86. "I
King Edward, An. 1550.]
42
PART the like, that first infected the world to the danger of civil
- government. Yet far be it from me to make these the uni
versal tenets of your Church, at any time, much less at this
time, when they are much fallen from their former credit ;
neither can I deny, that sundry dangerous positions, destruc
tive to all civil societies, have been transplanted by our
sectaries, and taken too deep root in our quarters, but never
by oui' fault. If God should grant us the benefit of an (Ecu
menical or Occidental Council, it would become both you and
us in the first place to pluck up such seditious opinions, root
and branch.
Oar first You say our " Calvinistical Reformation" (so you are
' nmxim01' pleased to call it as you would have it, for the moderate and
[p. 4.] orderly Reformation of England was the terror and eye-sore
of Rome) ' is founded upon two maxims •' the one, that ' the
Church was fallen to ruin and desolation, and become guilty
of idolatry and tyranny/
The Catho- This is neither our foundation, nor our superstruction ;
cannot.UrCh neither our maxim, nor our opinion. It is so far from it,
come to that we hold and teach the direct contrary. First, that the
guilty of ' Gates of Hell shall never prevail against the Universal
tyranny. °* Church ;; that ' though the rain descend, and the floods
[Matt. xvi. come, and the winds blow and beat upon it, yet it shall never
fall to ruin or desolation, because it is builded upon a Rock/
[Matt. vn.
25.] Secondly, we believe that the Catholic Church is the faithful
Spouse of Christ, and cannot be guilty of idolatry, which is
spiritual adultery. Thirdly, we never said, we never thought,
that the (Ecumenical Church of Christ was guilty of tyranny.
It is principled ' to suffer wrong, to do none, and by suffering
to conquer, as a flock of unarmed sheep in the midst of a
company of ravenous wolves •' — ' a new and unheard-of kind
of warfare/ — " as if one should throw a handful of dry flax
into the midst of a flaming fire to extinguish itr."
Catholic But I presume this is one of the idiotisms of your language,
no?o>n™an in which by the Church you always understand the Roman
vertibies. Church, making Roman and Catholic to be convertibles : as
if Christ could not have a Church, nor that Church any
privileges, unless the Court of Rome might have the monopoly
r Chrys. [Interpret, in Esai. c. ii. xxxiii (alit. xxxiv). torn. ii. p. 226.
torn. i. p. 1030, and Horn, in Mattli. — quoted from memory.]
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 43
of them. There is a vast difference between the Catholic DISCOURSE
Church and a Patriarchal Church. The Catholic Church can -
never fail; any Patriarchal Church may apostate and fail.
We have a promise that the candle shall not be put out;
we have no promise that ' the candlesticks shall not be Rev. ii. 5.
removed.'
But supposing that (which we can never grant) the Catho
lic Church and Roman Church were convertibles, yet still you
do us wrong.
First, we do not maintain, that the Roman Church itself is The Roman
fallen to ruin and desolation : we grant to it a true meta- itself not
physical being, though not a true moral being ; we hope ^lerUo1*
their errors are rather in superstructures, than in fundamen- ruin-
tals ; we do not say that the plants of saving truth (which
are common to you and us) are plucked up by the roots in
31 the Roman Church; but we say that they are overgrown
with weeds, and in danger to be choked.
Next for idolatry, — whether, and why, and how far we may Whether
V n , i • T the Roman
accuse your Church of it, deserves farther consideration. church be
First, you agree with us, that God alone is the Object o
religion, and consequently, that all religious worship is due
terminatively only to Him ; that God alone is to be invo-
cated absolutely or ultimately, that is, so as to grant our
requests and fulfil our desires by Himself, and that the Saints
are not the objects of our prayers, but joint-petitioners with
us and intercessors for us to the Throne of Grace.
Secondly, we profess as well as you, that there is a pro
portionable degree of honour and respect due to every crea
ture in Heaven and earth according to the dignity of it, and
therefore more honour due to a glorified Spirit than to a
mortal man. But withal we add, that this honour is not
servitutis but charitatis s ; not of service as to our lords and
masters, but of love and charity as to our friends and fellow-
servants; of the same kind and nature with that honour
which we give to holy men on earth. And herein we are
confident that we shall have your consent.
Thirdly, we agree in this also, that abundant love and
duty doth extend an honourable respect from the person of a
8 [" Honoramus eos" (Angelos) Vera Rel. c. 55. torn. i. p. 787. A.]
" caritate non scrvitute." August. De
44 THE BISHOP OF DERRY's ANSWER TO
dear friend, or noble benefactor, to his posterity, to his
memory, to his monument, to his image, to his relics, to
every thing that he loved, or that pertained to him, even to
the earth which he did tread upon, for his sake. Put a
Liefhebber*, or Virtuoso, among a company of rare pictures,
and he will pick out the best pieces for their proper value ;
but a friend or child will more esteem the picture of a bene
factor, or ancestor, for its relation. The respect of the one
is terminated in the picture, that of the other is radicated in
the exemplar. Yet still an image is but an image, and the
kinds of respect must not be confounded. The respect given
to an image, must be respect proper for an image; not
courtship, not worship, not adoration. More respect is due
to the person of the meanest beggar than to all the images of
Christ and His Apostles, and a thousand primitive Saints or
progenitors. Hitherto there is, either, no difference, nor
peril either of idolatry or superstition.
Wherein then did consist this guilt of idolatry contracted
by the Roman Church ?
I am willing for the present to pass by the private abuses
of particular persons, which seem to me no otherwise charge
able upon the whole Church, than for connivance. As the
making images to counterfeit tears, and words, and gestures,
and compliments, for advantage, to induce silly people to
believe that there was something of Divinity in them ; and
the multitude of fictitious relics, and supposititious Saints,
which credulity first introduced, and since covetousness hath
nourished.
I take no notice now of those remote suspicions or sup
positions of the possibility of want of intention, either in
the priest that consecrates the Sacrament, or in him that
baptized, or in the Bishop that ordained him, or in any one
through the whole line of succession; in all which cases
(according to your own principles) you give Divine worship
to corporeal Elements, which is at least material idolatry.
I will not stand now to examine the truth of your dis
tinctions of \arpeia and $ov\ela : yet you know well enough,
that Sov\ela is no religious worship ; and V7rep$ov\ela is coin
1 [Lic/hcblcr. Amateur. Dutch.]
AN EPISTLE OP M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 45
lately minted, that will not pass for current in the Catholic DISCOURSE
Church11. Whilst your common people understand not these ~
distinctions of degrees of honour, what holds them from
falling downright into idolatry ?
Neither do I urge how you have distributed the patronage
of particular countries, the cure of several diseases, the pro
tection of all distinct professions of men and all kinds of
creatures, among the Saints, just as the Heathen did among
their tutelary Gods ; nor how little warrant you have for
this practice from experience : nor, lastly, how you build
more Churches, erect more Altars, offer more presents, pour
out more prayers, make more vows, perform more offices to
the Mother than to the Son. Yet, though we should hold
our peace, methinks you should ponder these things seriously,
and either for your own satisfaction, or ours, take away such
unnecessary occasions of scandal and disunion.
But I cannot omit, that the Council of Trent is not con-
32 tented to enjoin the adoration of Christ in the Sacrament
(which we never deny), but of the Sacrament itself (that is,
according to the common current of your school-men, the
accidents or species of Bread and Wine), because it contains
Christ x. Why do they not add upon the same grounds, that
the pix is to be adored with Divine worship, because it con
tains the Sacrament ? Divine honour is not due to the very
Humanity of Christ, as it is abstracted from the Deity, but
to the Whole Person, Deity and Humanity, hypostatically
united. Neither the grace of union, nor the grace of
unction can confer more upon the Humanity than the
Humanity is capable of. There is no such union between
the Deity and the Sacrament, neither immediately, nor yet
mediately mediants Corpore.
Moreover you dov ordinarily ascribe \arpeia or Divine
worship to a Crucifix, or to the Image of Christ ; indeed not
terminatively, but transeuntly, so as not to rest in the Image
u ['AoTpeict, servitus quse debetur His Divinity and to the blessed Virgin.'
Deo ; SouAeia, servitus quse exhibenda (Bellarm. De Sanct. Beatit lib. i. c. 12.
esthomini' (Dufresne, Glossar.sub voc. torn. i. p. 1951.)]
SovA.); the latter being further 'divided x [Concil. Trident. Scss. xiii. cap. 5.
into SotAefa properly so called, and et can. 6.]
vnepSovAeia, of which the first is attri* y [See Bramhall's Vindication, &c.
butecl to the other Saints, and the second c. 10. beginn., Discourse ii. Part i.]
to the Humanity of Christ apart from
THE BISHOP OF DERRY S ANSWER TO
or Crucifix, but to pass to the Exemplar, or Person crucified z.
But why a piece of wood should be made partaker of Divine
honours even in transita, or in the passage, passeth my un
derstanding. The Heathens wanted not the same pretext
for all their gross idolatry. Let them plead for themselves : —
1 Non ego, $c. ' — ' I do not worship that stone which I see, but
I serve him whom I do not see/ a
Lastly, whilst you are pleased to use them, I may not
forget those strange insolent forms of prayer contained in
your Books, even ultimate prayers, if we take the words as
they sound, directed to the Creatures, that they would
protect you at the hour of death, and deliver you from
the devil, and confer spiritual graces upon you, and
admit you into HeaAren — " precibus meritisque" — "by their
prayers and merits " b (you know what merit signifies in your
z ["Debeturei" (Cruci)"latria." Ordo
ad recipiend. procession. Imperator. in
the Pontifical of Clement VIII. (Romas
1595.) Pt. iii. p. 672; and in that of
UrbanVIII.(Paris.l664.) Pt. iii. p. 109.
' Sacerdos, . . et deinde alii clerici et laici'
. . . "Crucemadorant." Rubric in Missal,
for Good Friday. — "Honos, quieis"(znza-
ginibus &c. ) " exhibetur, refertur ad pro
totypal Concil. Trident. Sess. xxv. De-
cret. de Invocatione &c. : see also Vaz
quez De Adorat. lib. ii. disp. 8. c. 3.
Among the Roman doctors, however, it
is a disputed question whether and how
far adoration is terminatively due either
to images or to the Cross ; some, with
Aquinas (Summ. Theol. pars iii. Qu.
xxv. Artt. 3, 4.), maintaining the af
firmative, — others, as Cassander (Con
sult 21. § de Cultu Imag.), the nega
tive, — and a third party, as Bellarmine
(lib. ii. de Imag. Sanctor. cc. 21, sq.'Op.
torn. i. pp. 2075, sq.), holding a middle
opinion, viz. that it is so due but only
' secundum quid and analogically.'
See Jackson's Works vol. i. book v.
On the Original of Unbelief &c.
c. 34.]
a [" Sed existit nescio quis dispu-
tator, . . . et ait, Non ego ilium lapidem
colo nee illud simulachrum, quod est
sine sensu ; non ego illud colo,
sed adoro quod video et servio Ei Quern
non video. ' ' August, in Ps. xcvi. v. 1 1 .
torn. iv. p. 1047. D.]
b [In the Offic. parvum B. Marias
in the (reformed) Roman Breviary ;
" Maria mater gratise,
" Dulcis parens dementias,
" Tu nos ab hoste protege,
" Et mortis hora suscipe." —
In the Commune Unius Martyris in
the same ;
" Invicte Martyr, ....
* * *
" Tui precatus munere
" Nostrum reatum dilue,
" Arcens mali contagium." —
In the Commune Apostolorum in the
same;
" Vos, saeculorum judices,
* • *
" Sanate mentes languidas,
" Augete nos virtutibus." —
In the Offic. B. Marise in the same ;
" Sub tuum presidium confugimus,
sancta Dei genitrix; nostras depreca-
tiones ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed
a periculis cunctis libera nos semper,
Virgo gloriosa et benedicta."
And again ;
" Virgo singularis,
* • *
" Mites fac et castos ;
" Vitam praesta puram." —
In the services for the particular Feasts
in the same, — In Cathedra S. Petri
Antioch. ;
" Beate Pastor Petre, clemens accipe
"Voces precantum, criminumque vin-
cula
" Verbo resolve, cui potestas tradita
" Aperire terris ccelum, apertum clau-
dere."
In the Offic. parvum B. Marias in
the Paris Breviary ;
" O Mater alma Christi carissima,
" Suscipe pia laudum prseconia.
AN EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 47
language, — a condignity, or at least a congruity, of desert). DISCOURSE
The exposition of your doctors is, that they should do all —
this for you by their prayers ; as improper a form of speech,
as if a suppliant, intending only to move an ordinary courtier
to mediate for him unto the King, should fall down upon his
knees before the courtier, and beseech him to make him an
Earl, or a Knight, or to bestow such an office or such a
pardon upon him, or to do some other grace for him properly
belonging to the prerogative royal. How agrees this with
the words, precibus meritisque ? A beggar doth not deserve
an alms by asking it. This is a snare to ignorant persons,
who take the words to signify as they sound ; and (it is to
be feared) do commit downright idolatry by their pastors'
faults, who prescribe such improper forms unto them.
Concerning tyranny, which makes up the arrear of the The Roman
first supposed ( maxim •' — we do not accuse the Roman Church tyrannical.
of tyranny, but the Roman Court. If either the unjust usurp
ation of Sovereign power, or the extending thereof to the
destruction of the laws and canons of the Church, yea, even
to give a "Non ohstante" either to the institution of Christ, or
at least to the uniform practice of the primitive ages, or to
them both c ; if the swallowing up of all ecclesiastical juris
diction, and the arrogating of a supercivil power paramount ;
if the causing of poor people to trot to Rome from all the
quarters of Europe, to waste their livelihoods there ; if the
trampling upon emperors and the disciplining of monarchs
be tyrannical ; either the Court of Rome hath been tyranni
cal, or there never was tyranny in the world d.
I doubt not but some great persons, when they have had
bloody tragedies to act for their own particular ends, have
"Nostrautpurapectorasintet corpora, in the Roman Service Books. Of the
" Te mine flagitant devota corda et ora. direct prayers quoted above, the greater
" Tua per precata dulcisona number, it will be seen, are not even
" Nobis concedas veniamper saecula." — so far qualified.]
In the Commune Apostolorum in the c [In the decree of the Council of
same ; Constance which restricts Communion
Vos, ... in both kinds to the officiating ministers
Qui dante Christo panditis, (ap. Labb. Concil. torn. xii. p. 100.),
Qui clauditis cceli fores, giving the Bread only to the laity, such
Nos criminum tenacibus restriction is enacted with an express
Vinclis ligatos solvite." — • " non obstante" both to the institution
The words "precibus meritisque " (the of Christ and to primitive practice.]
schoolmen) A [Bramhall's Vindication, &c. c. 6.
common phrase also of the
are a frequent, although f
strongest, form of the indirect prayers course ii. Part i.]
are a frequent, although far from the (Works, pp. 92, &c. fol. edit), Dis-
ii. Par
48
THE BISHOP or BERRY'S ANSWER TO
PART sometimes made the Roman Church a stalkinghorse, and the
- — pretence of Catholic religion a blind, to keep their policies
undiscerned : but if we consider seriously, what cruelties
have been really acted throughout Europe, either by the
Inquisitors General, or by persons specially delegated for
that purpose, against the Waldenses of old, and against the
Protestants of later days, against poor ignorant persons,
against women and children, against madmen, against dead
carcasses, as Bucer, &c., e upon pretence of religion, not only
by ordinary forms of punishment and of death, but by fire
and faggots, by strange new-devised tortures, we shall
quickly find that the Court of Rome hath died itself red in
Christian blood, and equalled the most tyrannical persecu
tions of the Heathen Emperors.
Our second The other ' maxim ' whereupon you say that our Reformation
was grounded, was this, "That the only way to reform the
Faith, and Liturgy, and government of the Church, was 33
to conform them to the dictates of Holy Scripture, of the
sense whereof every private Christian ought to be the judge
by the light of the Spirit, excluding Tradition and the public
judgment of the Church/ You add, that ' we cannot prove
Episcopacy by Scripture without the help of Tradition ; and
if we do admit of Tradition, we must acknowledge the
Papacy for the government of the Catholic Church, as founded
in the primacy of St. Peter/
Your second supposed ground is no truer than the former ;
we are as far from anarchy as from tyranny. As we would
not have human authority, like Medusa's head, to transform
reasonable men into senseless stones ; so we do not put the
reins of government into the hands of each or any private
person, to reform according to their phantasies. And that
we may not deal like blunderers, or deceitful persons, to wrap
up or involve ourselves on purpose in confused generalities, I
will set down our sense distinctly. When you understand it,
I hope you will repent your rash censuring of us, of whom
you had so little knowledge.
Three things f offer themselves to be considered : first, con-
supposed
'maxim
p. 4.
p. 5.
Much
mistaken.
e [Bucer's dead body was taken up
and burned by order of Cardinal Pole at
Cambridge A.D. 1557; Fox's Acts
and Monum. vol. iii. book xii. pp. 639,
&c. Lond. 1684. — Heylin's Eccles.
Restaur. Reign of Queen Mary, p. 70.]
f [The substance of the statement,
which follows, concerning the interpre-
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 49
cerning the rule of Scripture ; secondly, the proper ex-
pounders thereof; and thirdly, the manner of exposition.
Concerning Scripture we believe, — that it was impossible I. Th
for human reason without the help of Divine revelation, to
find out those supernatural truths which are necessary to
salvation : secondly, that, to supply this defect of natural
reason, God out of His abundant goodness hath given us the
Holy Scriptures, which have not their authority from the
writing, which is human, but from the revelation, which is
Divine, — from the Holy Ghost : thirdly, that, this being the
purpose of the Holy Ghost, it is blasphemy to say He would
not, or could not, attain unto it ; and that therefore the Holy
Scriptures do comprehend all necessary supernatural truths
(so much is confessed by Bellarmine, that ' all things which
are necessary to be believed and to be done by all Christians,
were preached to all by the Apostles, and were all written s') :
fourthly, that the Scripture is more properly to be called a
rule of supernatural truths than a judge ; or if it be some
times called a judge, it is no otherwise than the law is called
a judge of civil controversies between man and man, that is,
the rule of judging what is right, and what is wrong; — ' that
which sheweth what is straight, sheweth likewise what is
crooked V
Secondly, concerning the proper expounders of Scripture, n. who arc
the propc
expound
we do believe that the Gospel doth not consist in the words, °P~C
but in the sense — " non in superficie, sed in medulla1-" and l^l^e
therefore that, though this infallible rule be given for the and how
common benefit of all, yet every one is not an able or fit
artist to make application of this rule in all particular cases.
To preserve the common right, and yet prevent particular
abuses, we distinguish judgment into three kinds :
Judgment of discretion ; judgment of direction,- and judg
ment of jurisdiction k.
As in the former instance of the law (the ignorance whereof
excuseth no man) : — every subject hath judgment of dis-
tation of Scripture, appears to be taken yii/dxrKOfj.ei'.^ Aristot. De Anima, i. c.
from Field, Of the Church, bk. iv. cc. 5. Op. p. 411. 1. 5. ed. Bekker.]
13, &c. pp. 362, &c. Lond. 1628.] * [Hieron. In Epist. ad Galatas, c. 1.
* Lib. iv. De Verbo Dei, cap. 11. torn. iv. P. i. p. 230.]
[Op. torn. i. p. 244. B.] k [Field, as before quoted, p. 363 ;
h ["Ty iiidflitcuavrbKcu T?> KajUTruAof and c. 16. pp. 366, £67.]
BUAMHALL.
50 THE BISHOP OF DERRY^S ANSWER TO
PART cretion, to apply it particularly to the preservation of himself,
— his estate and interest; the advocates, and those who are
skilful in the law, have moreover a judgment of direction, to
advise others of less knowledge and experience ; but those
who are constituted by the sovereign power to determine
emergent difficulties and differences, and to distribute and ad
minister justice to the whole body of a province or kingdom,
have moreover a judgment of jurisdiction, which is not only
discretionary, or directive, but authoritative, — to impose an
obligation of obedience unto those who are under their
charge. If these last shall transgress the rule of the law,
they are not accountable to their inferiors, but to him or them
that have the sovereign power of legislative judicature;—
1 ejus est legem interpretari, cujus est condere.'
To apply this to the case in question concerning the expo
sition of the Holy Scripture. Every Christian keeping him
self within the bounds of due obedience and submission to his
i Thess. v. lawful superiors, hath a judgment of discretion ;—" Prove all
things, hold fast that which is good." He may apply the
rule of Holy Scripture for his own private instruction, com
fort, edification, and direction, and for the framing of his life
and belief accordingly. The pastors of the Church (who are
placed over God's people as watchmen and guides) have more 34
than this, a judgment of direction ; to expound and interpret
the Holy Scriptures to others, and out of them to instruct
the ignorant, to reduce them who wander out of the right
way, to confute errors, to foretell dangers, and to draw sinners
to repentance. The chief pastors, to whose care the regiment
of the Church is committed in a more special manner, have
yet a higher degree of judgment, a judgment of jurisdiction ;
to prescribe, to enjoin, to constitute, to reform, to censure, to
condemn, to bind, to loose, judicially, authoritatively, in their
respective charges. If their key shall err, either their key of
knowledge, or their key of jurisdiction, they are accountable
to their respective superiors, and in the last place to a general
Council, which under Christ upon earth is the highest judge
of controversies. Thus we have seen what is the rule of
Faith, and by whom, and how far respectively, this rule is to
be applied.
in. The Thirdly, for the manner of expounding Holy Scriptures ;
manner of
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 51
— for there may be a privacy in this also, and more dangerous DISCOURSE
than the privacy of the person1. — Many things are necessary
to the right interpretation of the law;— to understand the
reason of it, the precedents, the terms, the forms, the reports; ture-
and an ability to compare law with law. He that wants all
these qualifications altogether, is no interpreter of law. He
that wants but some of them, or wants the perfection of them,
by how much the greater is his defect, by so much the less
valuable is his exposition. And if he shall, out of private
fancy or blind presumption, arrogate to himself, without
these requisite means, or above his capacity and proportion
of knowledge, a power of expounding law, he is a madman.
So, many things are required to render a man capable to ex
pound the Holy Scriptures, some more necessarily, some less;
some absolutely, some respectively : as, first, to know the
right analogy of Faith, to which all interpretations of Scrip
ture must be of necessity conformed ; secondly, to know the
practice and tradition of the Church, and the received expo
sitions of former interpreters in the successive ages, which
gives a great light to the finding out of the right sense ;
thirdly, to be able to compare texts with texts, antecedents
with consequents, without which one can hardly attain to the
drift and scope of the Holy Ghost in the obscurer passages ;
and, lastly, it is something to know the idiotisms of that lan
guage wherein the Scriptures were written"1. He that wants
all these requisites, and yet takes upon him, out of a fanatic
presumption of private illumination, to interpret Scripture, is
a doting enthusiast, fitter to be refuted with scorn than with
arguments. He that presumes above that degree and propor
tion which he hath in these means, and above the talent which
God hath given him (as he that hath a little language, yet
wants logic ; or, having both language and logic, knows not,
or regards not, either the judgment of former expositors, or
the practice and tradition of the purest primitive ages, or the
Symbolical Faith of the Catholic Church), is not a likely
workman to build a Temple to the Lord, but ruin and de
struction to himself and his seduced followers. c A new
1 [Field, as before quoted, p. 366; tione persona, modi, or finis."]
who cites Stapleton's threefold division m [Field, as before quoted, c. 19. pp.
of ' privacy of interpretation,' viz. " ra- 372, 373.]
E2
52 THE BISHOP OF BERRY'S ANSWER TO
PART physician/ we say, ' requires a new church-yard / but such
- bold ignorant empirics in theology are ten times more
dangerous to the soul, than an ungrounded unexperienced
quack-salver to the body.
This is con- This hath always been the doctrine and the practice of our
thedoc- ° English Church. First, it is so far from admitting laymen
practiced to be directive interpreters of Holy Scripture, that it allows
ourChurch. no^ this liberty to clergymen so much as ' to gloss upon the
text/ until they be ' licensed to become preachers"/ Secondly,
for judgment of discretion only, it gives it not to private per
sons above their talents, or ' beyond their last/ It disallows
all fantastical and enthusiastical presumption of incompetent
and unqualified expositors1. It admits no man into Holy
Orders, that is, to be capable of being made a directive inter
preter of Scripture, howsoever otherwise qualified, ' unless he
be able to give a good account of his Faith in the Latin
tongue?/ so as to be able to frame all his expositions according
to the analogy thereof. It forbids the licensed preachers to
' teach the people any doctrine as necessary to be religiously
held and believed, which the Catholic Fathers, and old Bishops
of the Primitive Church, have not collected out of the Scrip
tures <i/ It ascribes a judgment of jurisdiction over preachers
to Bishops, in all manner of ecclesiastical duties, as appears 35
by the whole body of our Canons ; and especially where any
difference or public opposition hath been between preachers,
about any point or doctrine deduced out of Scripture r. It
gives a power of determining all emergent controversies of
Faith above Bishops to the Church, as to the ' witness and
keeper of the Sacred Oracles s/ and to a 'lawful Synod/ as the
1 representative Church V
Now, Sir, be your own judge how infinitely you have
wronged us, and yourself more, suggesting that temerariously
and without the sphere of your knowledge to his Majesty for
the principal ground of our Reformation, which our souls
abhor. Is there no mean between stupidity and madness ?
" Canon. 1603. can. 49. 1 Can. 1571. tit. ' Concionatores.'
° See the Preface to the Bishops' [Wilk. Concil. torn. iv. p. 267.]
Bible. [A. D, 1572; — Cranmer'sPro- r Canon. 1603. Can. 53.
logue, near the end.] s Art. 20. [" A witness and a keeper
* [Canon. 1603.] Can. 34; [and of Holy Writ."]
Rubric before Ordination Service.] l Canon. 1603. Can. 139.
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 53
Must either all things be lawful for private persons,, or no- DISCOURSE
thing ? Because we would not have them like David's ' horse ~
FPs. xxxii.
and mule, without understanding/ do we therefore put both 9.]
swords in their hands, to reform and cut off, to plant and to
pluck up, to alter and abolish, at their pleasure ? We allow
them Christian liberty, but would not have them Libertines.
Admit some have abused this just liberty, may we therefore
take it away from others ? So shall we leave neither a sun in
heaven, nor any excellent creature upon earth, for all have
been abused by some persons, in some kinds, at some times.
We receive not your upstart supposititious traditions, nor The Eng-
unwritten fundamentals : but we admit genuine, universal, anhenemyh
Apostolical traditions u; as the Apostles' Creed — the perpetual n°otu£fart>
Virginity of the Mother of God — the anniversary Festivals of Apostoii-
the Church — the Lenten Fast (yet we know that both the ditlons.
duration of it, and the manner of observing it, was very
different in the primitive times). We believe Episcopacy, to
an ingenuous person, may be proved out of Scripture without
the help of Tradition ; but to such as are froward, the per
petual practice and tradition of the Church renders the inter
pretation of the text more authentic, and the proof more
convincing. What is this to us who admit the practice and
tradition of the Church, as an excellent help of exposition ?
Use is the best interpreter of laws ; and we are so far from
believing, that ' we cannot admit Tradition without allowing [p. 5.]
the Papacy/ that one of the principal motives why we rejected
the Papacy, as it is now established with universality of juris
diction by the institution of Christ, and superiority above
(Ecumenical Councils, and infallibility of judgment, was the
constant tradition of the Primitive Church.
So, Sir, you see your demonstration shaken into pieces.
You, who take upon you to remove whole Churches at your
pleasure, have not so much ground left you as to set your
instrument upon. Your two main ground-works being
vanished, all your Presbyterian and Independent superstruc-
tions do remain like so many bubbles, or castles in the air.
It were folly to lay close siege to them, which the next puff of
wind will disperse ; — " ruunt subductis tecta cohimnis x."
11 [Field, as before quoted, bk iv. c. 20. x [Juven. viii. 77.]
pp. 375, &c.]
54
PART Howsoever, though you have mistaken the grounds of our
r Reformation and of your discourse, yet you charge us, that
ciesofthe fwe have renounced the Sacrifice of the Mass, Transubstan-
Creed°wean tiation, the seven Sacraments, Justification by inherent
nounced 1 righteousness, Merits, Invocation of Saints, Prayer for the
p. 5, dead with Purgatory, and the authority of the Pope/ Are
these all the necessary articles of the new Roman Creed, that
we have renounced ? Surely no ; you deal too favourably
with us. We have in like manner renounced your Image-
worship, your half Communion, your Prayers in a tongue
unknown, &c. It seems you were loth to mention these
things.
oftheSa- First, you say we have renounced your Sacrifice of the
the Mass. Mass. If the Sacrifice of the Mass be the same with the
Sacrifice of the Cross, we attribute more unto it than your
selves ; we place our whole hope of salvation in it. If you
understand another Propitiatory Sacrifice distinct from that (as
this of the Mass seems to be ; for confessedly the Priest is not
the same, the Altar is not the same, the Temple is not the
same) ; if you think of any new meritorious Satisfaction to
God for the sins of the world, or of any new supplement to
the merits of Christ's Passion; you must give us leave to
renounce your Sacrifice indeed, and to adhere to the Apostle ;
Heb. x. 14. — « By one Offering He hath perfected for ever them that are
sanctified."
Surely you cannot think that Christ did actually sacrifice
Himself at His Last Supper (for then He had redeemed the
world at His Last Supper; then His subsequent Sacrifice
upon the Cross had been superfluous) ; nor that the priest
now doth more than Christ did then, We do readily acknow
ledge an Eucharistical sacrifice of prayers and praises : we 36
profess a commemoration of the Sacrifice of the Cross ; and
in the language of Holy Church, things commemorated are
related as if they were then acted ; as, — " Almighty God,
who hast given us Thy Son as this day to be born of a pure
Virgin^ • — and, " Whose praise the younger Innocents have
this day set forth z ;" — and between the Ascension and Pente
cost, " Which hast exalted Thy Son Jesus Christ with great
y Collect [for Christmas Day]. before Review of 1661].
z Collect [for Innocents' Day, — form
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 55
triumph into Heaven, we beseech Thee leave us not comfort- DISCOURSE
less, but send unto us Thy Holy Spirit a :" we acknowledge ~
a representation of that Sacrifice to God the Father : we
acknowledge an impetration of the benefit of it : we maintain
an application of its virtue : so here is a commemorative,
impetrative, applicative Sacrifice. Speak distinctly, and I
cannot understand what you can desire more. To make it a
suppletory Sacrifice, to supply the defects of the only true
Sacrifice of the Cross, I hope both you and I abhor.
The next crime objected by you to us is, that we have re- Of Tran-
nounced Transubstantiation. It is true, we have rejected it tion.
deservedly from being an article of our Creed ; you need not
wonder at that. But if we had rejected it four hundred
years sooner, that had been a miracle. It was not so soon
hatched. To find but the word ' Transubstantiation' in any
old author, were sufficient to prove him a counterfeit.
Your next article of the septenary number of the Sacra- of Seven
ments is not much older : never so much as mentioned in any
Scripture, or Council, or Creed, or Father, or ancient author ;
first devised by Peter Lombard b ; first decreed by Eugenius
the Fourth0; first confirmed in the provincial Council of Sensd;
and after in the Council of Trent6. Either the word ' Sacra
ment' is taken largely ; and then the washing of the Disciples'
feet is called a Sacrament ; then the only sprinkling of ashes
on a Christian's head is called a Sacrament ; then there are
God knows how many Sacraments more than seven : or else
it is taken strictly for a visible sign, instituted by Christ,
to convey or confirm grace to all such partakers thereof, as
do not set a bar against themselves, according to the analogy
between the sign and the thing signified ; and in this sense
the proper and certain Sacraments of the Christian Church,
common to all, or (in the words of our Church) " generally
necessary to salvationf," are but two, Baptism and the Supper
of our Lord. More than these St. Ambrose writes not of in
his book De Sacramentis*, because he did not know them.
a Collect [for the Sunday after As- d A.D. 1528. [Can.x. ap.Labb. Con-
cension Day]. cil. torn. xiv. p. 454.]
b [Sentent. lib. iv. Dist. ii. § 1.] * A.D. 1547. [Condi. Trident. Sess.
0 A.D. 1439. [Decret Eugen. Papae vii. can. 1.]
iv. ad Armenos (at the Council of Flo- f [Catechism.]
rence) ; ap.Labb. Condi, torn. xiii. p. g [Op. torn. ii. pp. 341, sq.]
534.]
56 THE BISHOP OF DERRY^S ANSWER TO
T A H T These we admit for genuine and general Sacraments. Their
sacramental virtue we acknowledge.
The rest we retain more purely than yourselves, though
not under the notion of such proper and general Sacraments.
As Confirmation, Ordination, Matrimony, Penitence (though
we neither approve of your preposterous manner of Absolu
tion before satisfaction, nor of your ordinary Penitentiary
taxh) ; and, lastly, the Visitation of, and Prayer for, the Sick ;
which only is of perpetual necessity, the unction prescribed
Jam. v. 14. by St. James being appropriable to the miraculous gift of
healing or recovering men out of sickness then in use, whereas
your custom is clean contrary, never or rarely to enoil1 any
man, until he be past all hope of recovery. The ordinary and
most received custom of preparing sick persons for another
world in the Primitive Church, was Prayer, and Absolution
or the benefit of the Keys, and the Viaticum of the Body and
Blood of Christ, which we retain.
of Justifl- Concerning Justification, we believe that all good Christians
have true inherent justice, though not perfect, according to a
perfection of degrees, as gold is true gold, though it be mixed
with some dross. We believe that this inherent justice and
sanctity doth make them truly just arid holy. But if the
word ' Justification' be taken in sensu forensi, for the acquittal
of a man from former guilt, to make an offender just in the
Rom. viii. eye of the law, as it is opposed to ' condemnation/ — " It is God
33> 3J that justifieth, Avho is he that condemneth ?" — then it is not
our inherent righteousness that justifieth us in this sense,
but the free grace of God for the Merits of Jesus Christ.
of Merits. Next for Merits, we never doubted of the necessity of good
works, without which faith is but a fiction. We are not so
stupid to imagine that Christ did wash us from our sins, that
[Luke i. 74, we might wallow more securely in sin, but that 'we might
serve him in holiness and righteousness all the days of our 37
life/ We never doubted of the reward of good works; —
[Matt. xxv. ' Come ye blessed of My Father/ &c. ffor I was hungry, and
ye fed Me :' nor whether this reward be due to them in
1 T m. iv. justice ; — " Henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteous-
8.
h [For a full account of the Taxa tionn. Historique, sub voc. Taxa.]
Pcenitentiaria, or published scale of ' [More commonly spelt 'annoil'or
prices for Papal dispensations and in- ' anele. ']
diligences &c., see Marchand's Die-
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIEUE, &C. 57
ness, which the Lord the just Judge shall give me in that DISCOURSE
day :" faithful promise makes due debt. This was all that -
the Ancient Church did ever understand by the name of
Merits. Let PetaviusJ bear witness; — " Antiqui Patres
omnesy et pr<$ caeteris Augustinus, cumque us consentiens
Ttomana et Catholica pietas, agnoscit merita eo sensu, nimirum
ut neque Dei gratiam ulla antecedant merita, et licnc ipsa turn ex
gratia turn ex gratuitd Dei pollicitatione tota pendeant:" — "All
the ancient Fathers, especially St. Austin, and the Roman and
Catholic Faith consenting with them, do acknowledge Merits in
this sense, that no Merits go before the grace of God, and that
these very Merits do depend wholly on grace and on the free
promise of God." Hold you to' this, and we shall have no more
difference about Merits. Do you exact more of us, than all the
Fathers, or the Roman and Catholic piety, doth acknowledge?
It is an easy thing for a wrangling sophister to dispute of
Merits in the schools, or for a vain orator to declaim of
Merits out of the pulpit ; but when we come to lie upon our
death-beds, and present ourselves at the last hour before the
tribunal of Christ, it is high time both for you and us to re
nounce our own merits, and to cast ourselves naked into the
arms of our Saviour. That any works of ours (who are the
best of us but te unprofitable servants ;" which properly are [Luke xvii.
not ours, but God's own gifts ; and if they were ours, are a
just debt due unto him, setting aside God's free promise and
gracious acceptation) should condignlyby their own intrinse-
cal value deserve the joys of Heaven, to which they have no
more proportion than they have to satisfy for the eternal
torments of Hell ; — this is that which we have renounced,
and which we never ought to admit.
If your Invocation of Saints were not such as it is, to Of invoca-
request of them patronage and protection, spiritual graces, saints.
and celestial joys, by their prayers, and by their merits (alas!
the wisest Virgins have oil in their lamps little enough for [Matt.xxv.
themselves) ; yet it is not necessary for two reasons : first ; '
no Saint doth love us so well as Christ ; no Saint hath given
us such assurance of his love, or done so much for us as
Christ ; no Saint is so willing or able to help us as Christ :
and, secondly, we have no command from God to invocate
j Dissert. Eccles. lib. ii. c. 4. [pp. 230, 231. Paris 1641.]
58 THE BISHOP OF DERRY^S ANSWER TO
PART them (so much your own authors do confess, and give this
— reason for it, " lest the Gentiles, being converted, should
believe that they were drawn back again to the worship of
[Ps. 1. 15.] the creature k"); but we have another command, " Call upon
Me in the day of trouble, and I will hear thee." We have
no promise to be heard, when we do invocate them ; but we
[John xiv. have another promise, — " Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father
in My name, ye shall receive it." We have no example in
Holy Scripture of any that did invocate them, but rather the
Rev. xxii. contrary ; — e See thou do it not ;' ' I am thy fellow- servant,
worship God/ We have no certainty that they do hear our
particular prayers, especially mental prayers, yea, a thousand
prayers poured out at one instant in several parts of the world.
We know what your men say of the "glass of the Trinity," and
of extraordinary revelations1; but these are bold conjectures
without any certainty, and inconsistent the one with the other.
We do sometimes meet in ancient authors with the inter
cession of Saints in general, which we also acknowledge ; or
an oblique invocation of them (as you term it), that is, a
prayer directed to God, that he will hear the intercession of
the Saints for us, which we do not condemn ; or a wish, or a
rhetorical apostrophe, or perhaps something more in some
single ancient author : but for an ordinary invocation in
particular necessities, and much more for public invocation
in the Liturgies of the Church, we meet not with it for the
first six hundred years, or thereabouts m ; all which time, and
afterwards also, the common principles and tradition of the
k S. Clara [Deus, Natura, Gratia of as a vision ' in speculo Trinitatis,' —
&c.], Problem. 37. [p. 323. Lugd. or (as Scotus and others) by special
1635]; ex Horantio [Loci Catholici, revelation upon each occasion : to which
lib. iii. c. 21. fol. 260. Paris 1566]. three Bellarmine (lib. i. De Beatitud.
1 [S. Clara as above cited, pp. 308— Sanctor. c. 20. Op. torn. i. p. 1939.)
310, states three ways by which dif- adds a fourth — by the information of
ferent Roman Catholic doctors endea- Angels.]
voured to escape this objection ; viz. m [Viz. not until the time of Gre-
by affirming that the souls of departed gory the Great A. D. 590 — 604, the
Saints enjoyed a knowledge even of the single instance excepted of the Euty-
thoughts of men upon earth, either (as chian Bishop of Antioch Peter the
Biel) intuitive and as it were natural, Fuller (Niceph. Hist. Eccles. xv. 28.)
— or (as Aquinas and his followers from in the middle of the fifth century, which
Gregory the Great, Moral, lib. xii. c. 21. certainly was not an act of the Church
torn. i. p. 403. A. ed. Bened.) beatific, nor of any branch of it. The summary
" quia quse" (animae) " intus omnipoten- statement here given by Bramhall, may
tis Dei claritatem vident, nullo modo be found for the most part with au-
credendum est, quia for is sit aliquid quod thorities in Field, bk. iii. c. 20. pp. 109,
ignorent," which later schoolmen spoke &c.]
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 59
Church were against it. So far were they from obtruding it DISCOURSE
as a necessary fundamental article of Christian Religion. *
It is a common fault of your writers always to couple Prayer of Prayer
for the dead and Purgatory together, as if the one did neces- dead with
sarily suppose or imply the other ; — in whose steps you tread. Pursatorv-
Prayer for the dead hath often proceeded upon mistaken
3 s grounds, often from true grounds, both inconsistent with
your Purgatory. Many have held an opinion, that, though
the souls were not extinguished at the time of their separa
tion from the body, yet they did lie in ' secret receptacles11' in
a profound or dead sleep until the Resurrection, doing
nothing, suffering nothing in the mean time, but only the
delay of their glory. Others held, that all must pass through
the fire of conflagration at the Day of Judgment °. These
opinions were inconsistent with your Purgatory, yet all these
upon these very grounds used Prayer for the dead. Others,
called the merciful doctors, held, that the very pains of
Hell might be lessened by the prayer of the living?. Such a
prayer is that which we meet with in your own Missal q ; — " O
King of Glory, deliver the souls of all the faithful deceased,
from the pains of Hell, from the deep Lake, from the mouth
of the Lion" (that is, the Devil), " that the bottomless pit of [Ne absor-
Hell do not swallow them up/' A man may lawfully pray Tartarus.
for that which is certain, if it be to come ; but one cannot
lawfully pray for that which is past. The souls which are in
Purgatory, (by your learning) are past the fear of Hell. Nor
can this petition be any ways so wrested, as to become ap-
pliable to the hour of death. This prayer is not for the man,
n [" Abditis receptaculis." August. Lactantius, Chrysostom, Augustin,
De Octo Dulcit. Queest. iii. § 4. Op. Theodoret, and others ; for the latter
torn. vi. p. 95. D Enchirid. c. xix. (ibid. lib. v. Annott. 170, 171.), first
ibid. p. 174. C.] Origen, and from him Lactantius, Am-
0 [Compare Field, bk. iii. c. 9. p. brose, Hilary, Basil, and Jerome.]
87. c. 17. pp. 101, &c., from whom p [Compare Field as quoted in the
Bramhall's statement appears to be in last note : and for a list of those who
substance taken, and Jer. Taylor, Dis- have held this third opinion, see Sixtus
suasive from Popery, Pt. i. § 4. vol. x. Senensis, as above quoted, lib. vi.
p. 149 and see the lists of Fathers, Annot. 47., who cites S. Chrysostom
holding the opinions mentioned in the (Horn. 3. in Epist. ad Philipp. torn. iv.
text, cited at length by Sixtus Senensis ; p. 20), Joann. Damascenus, Prudentius,
viz. for the former (Biblioth. Sanct. and several schoolmen, including
lib. vi. Annot. 345 quoted by Field Aquinas who discusses the question at
and Taylor), the Liturgy of S. James, length Iniv. Sen tent. Dist. xlv. Qu. 2.]
Irenoeus, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, q [In the Missse pro Defunctis ;—
Clement of Rome, Prudentius, Origen, quoted by Field as above.]
60
PART Dut for the soul separated ; not for the soul of a sick man, or
~ a dying man, but for the souls of men actually deceased.
Certainly this prayer must have reference either to the sleep
ing of the souls, or to the pains of Hell ; to deliverance out
of Purgatory it can have no relation. Neither are you able
to produce any one prayer public or private, neither any one
indulgence to that purpose, for the delivery of any one soul
out of Purgatory, in all the Primitive times, or out of your
own ancient Missals or Records. Such are the innovations
which you would impose upon us as articles of Faith, which
the greatest part of the Catholic Church never received until
this day. Moreover, though the sins of the faithful be pri
vately and particularly remitted at the day of death, yet the
public promulgation of their pardon at the Day of Judgment
is to come. Though their souls be always in an estate of
blessedness, yet they want the consummation of this blessed
ness, extensively at least, until the body be re-united unto
the soul • and (as it is piously and probably believed) inten
sively also, — that the soul hath not yet so full and clear a
vision of God, as it shall have hereafter. Then what forbids
Christians to pray for this public acquittal, for this consum
mation of blessedness ? — So we do pray, as often as we say
[Rev. xxii. " Thy Kingdom come," or " Come Lord Jesus, come quickly."
Our Church is yet plainer ; — ' That we, with this our brother
and all other departed in the faith of Thy Holy Name, may
have our perfect consummation of blessedness in Thy ever
lasting Kingdom1/ This is far enough from your more
gainful prayers for the dead to deliver them out of Pur
gatory.
Theau- Lastly, concerning the authority of the Pope; — it is he
the Pope, himself that hath renounced his laAvful Patriarchal authority;
and if we should offer it him at this day, he would disdain it :
we have only freed ourselves from his tyrannical usurped au
thority. But upon what terms, upon what grounds, how
far, and with what intention, we have separated ourselves, or
rather have suffered ourselves to be separated, from the Church
of Rome, you may find if you please in the Treatise of
Schism s.
•6- I cannot choose but wonder to see you cite St. Cyprian
r [Burial Service.] s [Discourse ii. Part i.]
THE EPISTLE OF M» DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 61
against us in tins case ; who separated himself from you, as DISCOURSE
well as we,, in the days of a much better Bishop than we, and —
upon much weaker grounds than we, and published his
dissent to the world in two African Councils *. He liked
not the swelling title of Bishop of Bishops, nor that one
Bishop should tyrannically terrify another into obedience u ;
no more do we. He gave a primacy, or principality, of
order, to the Chair of St. Peter, as ' principium unitatis* ;' so
do we : but he believed that every Bishop had an equal
share of Episcopal power >" ; so do we. He provided apart, as
he thought fit, in a provincial Council, for his own safety and
the safety of his flock z ; so did we. He writ to your great
Bishop as to his brother and colleague, and dared to repre
hend him for receiving but a letter from such as had been
censured by the African Bishops a. In St. Cyprian's sense,
you are the beam that have separated yourselves from the
body of the sun ; you are the bough that is lopped from the
tree ; you are the stream which is divided from the fountain b.
39 It is you, principally you, that have divided the unity of the
Church.
You collect as a corollary from our supposed principle of Whether
the right and sufficiency of private judgment, enlightened by laws bind
the Spirit, that ' no human authority can bind the conscience science."
of another, or prescribe any thing unto it/ I have formerly [p. 6.]
shewed you your gross mistake in the premises. Now, if you
please, hear our sense of the conclusion. Human laws cannot
be properly said to bind the conscience by the sole authority
1 [There were three Councils of cessitatem collegas suos adigit." Cy-
Carthage (one A. D. 255, two A. D. prian (to the third Council of those
256, according to Pearson,) de Rebap- mentioned in note t). Op. p. 229.]
tizandis Haereticis, of which, however, x [See above, note m. p. 32.]
only the second (Cypr. ad Stephanum, y [De Unitate. Op. pp. 107, 108.]
Epist. 72. pp. 196', sq.) and the third z [There were at least three Councils
(Act. Concil. Carthag. ap. Cypr. Op. of Carthage held by S. Cyprian, besides
pp. 229, sq.) have any relation to the the three mentioned in note t, and all
difference upon the subject between apart from, although not against, the
S. Cyprian and Stephen the then Bishop Bishop of Rome. See Harduin. Con-
of Rome, the former declaring its inde- cil. torn, i ; and Pearson's Annales Cy-
pendence, the latter its denial, of prianici.]
Stephen's opinion. See Harduin. Con- a [Cyprian to Cornelius concerning
cil. torn. i. and Pearson's Annales Cy- Felicissimus, Epist. 59. pp. 120, sq.jand
prianici.] to Stephen concerning Marcian, Epist.
u ["Neque enim quisque nostrum 68. pp. 176, sq.]
Episcopum se Episcoporum const! tuit, b [Cypr. de Unitate, Op. p. 108, — •
aut tyraintico (crrore ad obseqveixii lie- quoted by La Milletiere. ]
62 THE BISHOP or BERRY'S ANSWER TO
PART of the lawgiver ; but partly by the equity of the law, every
~" one being obliged to advance that which conduceth to a
[Levitxix. public good, — " thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;"—
and especially by Divine authority, which commands ' every
[Rom. xiii. soul to be subject to the higher powers for conscience' sake/
not prudentially only. The question is soon decided. Just
laws of lawful superiors, either civil or ecclesiastical, have
authority to bind the conscience in themselves, but not from
themselves0.
pp. 6. 7. 12. How shall we believe that ' it is not you, but God, that
JmtfeUen-r represents these things to his Majesty, that addresseth them
y your mouth, that calleth him, that stretcheth out
His hand to him, that hath set these things before his eyes
in characters not to be defaced ?' What ? That his Majesty
should turn Roman Catholic? Are they like Belshazzar's
characters ? and are you the only Daniel that can read them?
We do not see a Cloven Tongue upon your head, nor a Dove
seeming to whisper in your ear. Be not too confident, lest
some take it to be a little taint of Anabaptism ; perhaps you
have had as strange fantasies as this heretofore, whilst you
were of a contrary party d.
Be it what it will be, you cannot offer it to his Majesty
with more confidence, or pretend more intimacy with God, or
to be more familiarly acquainted with His Cabinet-Council,
than a Scotch presbyter ; and yet yourself would not value
all his confidence at a button. Wise men are not easily gained
by empty shows or pretences, that signify nothing but the
pretender's vanity, nor by enthusiastical interpretation of
occurrences. It is only the weight of reason that depresseth
the scale of their judgment, and maketh them to yield and
submit unto it.
Howsoever it be God or you that represent these things
[p. 7.] to his Majesty, you tell us, that 'the end is to reduce him
from those errors which he sucked in with his milk ; which
in the days of peace and abundance it had been difficult for
him to discover, but now his eyes and his ears do see and hear
[See Field, Of the Church &c. bk. " ex sold legislatoris voluntate sed ex ipsd
iv. cc. 32, &c. pp. 397, &c., who quotes legum utUitate et rationed'}
Stapleton's distinction concerning hu- d [See note a, p. 7.]
man laws, viz. that they are binding not
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 63
those truths which make it evident to him, that God hath DISCOURSE
condemned them to reduce him to the communion of the -
Church / wherein you promise him all manner of blessings.
Who told you of his Majesty's new illumination ? or what
have you seen to believe any such thing ? "When you dare
avouch such gross untruths of himself to himself, how should
he credit your private presumptions, which you tell him as
a new Mercury dropped down from Heaven.
You tell us, that ' it is necessary for every one to adhere to [p- 7- ]
the true Church, which is the Keeper of saving truth/ That manists re-
is true, but nothing to his Majesty, who hath more right
already in the Catholic Church than yourself. You tell us t(?^rrch as
moreover that this Church is the Roman Church. That is not necessary
to salva-
true ; but suppose it were most true, as it is most false, what tion ;
should a man be better or more nearer to the knowledge of
the truth, and consequently to his salvation, for his submis
sion to the Roman Church, as long as you cannot agree
among yourselves, either what this Roman Church is, or yet cannot
what this infallible judge is ? One saith it is the Pope alone ; among
another saith, no, but the Pope with his Conclave of Car- JJ
dinals ; a third will go no less than the Pope and a provincial .
Council; a fourth will not be contented without the Pope
and a general Council ; a fifth is for a general Council alone,
either with or without the Pope ; a sixth party (and they
are of no small esteem amongst you here at this present) is
for the essential Church, that is, the company of all faithful
people, whose reception (say they) makes the true ratification
of the acts of its representative body6. It were as good to
have no infallible judge, as not to know or agree who it is.
Be not so censorious in condemning others for not submitting
to your Roman Church or infallible judge, nor so positive to
make this submission so absolutely necessary to salvation,
until you agree better what this judge or Church is. It is
five to one against you, that you yourself miss the right
judge.
40 Whatsoever become of your Church, you say, ' ours is The Eng-
.,,,.. . * ... lish Church
perished by the proper axioms of our own Reformation, and not perish-
hath no more any subsistence in the world, nor pretence to ^jj' 7 -j
e [See Bramhall's Protestants' Or- fol. edit.), Discourse vii. Part iv.]
dination Defended (Works, p. 1020.
64 THE BISHOP OF DERBY'S ANSWER TO
PART the privilege of a Church/ This is hard. "He perisheth
— twice that perisheth hy his own wreaponsf." Even so Joseph's
Gen. xiii. brethren told Joseph himself, with conscience guilty enough,
" one is not." This is that which the Coiirt of Rome would
be content to purchase at any rate. This hath been the end
of all their negociations and instructions by all means to
support the Presbyterian faction in England against Episco
pacy. Not that they loved them more than us, but that they
feared us more than them.
[1 Kings There was an Israelitish Church, when Elias did not see it ;
but he must be as blind as Bartimseus, that cannot see the
English Church. Wheresoever there is a lawful English
pastor, and an English flock, and a subordination of this
flock to that pastor, there is a branch of the true English
Protestant Church. Do you make no difference between a
Church persecuted, and a Church extinguished? Have
patience, and expect the catastrophe. It may be all this
while ' the carpenter's Son is making a coffin for Julian %.' If
it please God, we may yet see the Church of England, which
is now frying in the fire, come out like gold out of the
furnace, more pure, and more full of lustre. If not, His will
[PS. cxix. be done. " Just art Thou, O Lord, and righteous are all Thy
judgments." The Primitive Church was as glorious in the
sight of God, when they served Him in holes and corners —
in cryptiSj sacellis, conventiculis, ecclesiolis, as when His
worship was more splendidly performed in Basilicis and
Cyriads — in goodly Churches and magnificent Cathedrals.
p> a Your design stops not at the King of Great Britain, but
The AU- extends itself to all his subjects, yea, to all Protestants what-
dreams. soever. I wonder why you stay there, and would not add all
the Eastern Churches; and the Great Turk himself, since
you might have done it with another penfuFof ink, and with
as much pretence of reason, — to secure himself from the
joint forces of Christendom, thus united by your means. A
strong fantasy will discover armies and navies in the clouds,
f ["Bis interimitur, qui suis armis have asked in derision of a Christian
perit." Erasm. Adag. Chil. iv. Cent. i. doctor, 'What the cai'penter's Son was
Prov. 96.] doing?' The answer was " revert KO/UOV
g [The Emperor Julian, when at An- Karaaicevd^ei." Theodor. Hist. Eccles.
tioeh immediately before his fatal expe- iii. 23 ; Sozcm. Hist. Eccles. vi. 2.]
cljtion against the Persians, is said to
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIEEE, &C. 65
men and horses and chariots in the fire, and hear articulate DISCOURSE
dictates from the bells. This is not to write waking but — — - —
dreaming.
Yet you make it an easy work ; ' to effect which there pp. 8, 9.
needs no disputation, but only to behold the heretical genius of
our Reformation, which is sufficiently condemned by itself, if
men will only take the pains to compare the fundamental
principles thereof with the consequences/ Great houses and
forts are builded at an easy charge in paper. When you
have consulted with your architects and engineers, you will
find it to be a work of more difficulty. And your adversaries'
resolution may teach you, to your cost, what it is to promise
to yourself such an easy conquest before the fight ; and let
you see that those golden mountains, which you have fantasied,
have no subsistence but in your brain ; and send you home
to seek that self-conviction there, which you sought to fasten
upon others. When you are able to prove your universal
Monarchy, your new Canon of Faith, your new Treasury of
the Church, your new Roman Purgatory, whereof the Pope
keeps the keys, your Image-worship, your Common-Prayers
in a tongue unknown, your detaining of the Cup from the
laity in the public administration of the Sacrament, and the
rest of your new Creed, out of the four first general Councils,
or the universal tradition of the Church in those days, either
as principles or fundamental truths (which you affirm), or so
much as ordinary points of Faith (which we deny), we will
yield ourselves to be guilty both of contradiction and schism.
Until you are able to make these innovations good, it were
best for you to be silent, and leave your vapouring. Despe
rate undertakings do easily forfeit a man's reputation.
Now are we come to the most specious piece of your whole His vainer
Epistle, that is, < the motion or proposition of a conference, SaPcon-°n
by authority of the King of France, at the instance of the ference-
King of Great Britain, before the Archbishop of Paris and his pp' 9) &°'
Coadjutor, between some of your Roman Catholic doctors, and
the ministers of the Reformed Church at Paris/ whom you do
deservedly commend for their sufficiency and zeal. You far
ther suppose, that < the ministers of the Reformed Church
41 will accept of such a disputation, or by their tergiversa
tion betray the weakness of their cause :' and you conclude
BRAMHAI.L.
66 THE BISHOP OF DERRY^S ANSWER TO
confidently beyond supposition, that ' they will be confuted
and convicted, and that their conversion or conviction will
afford sufficient ground to the King of Great Britain to em
brace the communion of the Roman Catholic Church ;' and
' that his conversion will reduce all conscientious Protestants
to unity and due obedience/
I will contract your larger palm to a fist. If the King of
Great Britain desire a solemn conference, the King of France
will enjoin it ; if he enjoin it, the ministers will accept it ; if
they do accept, they are sure to be convicted; if they be
convicted, the King of Great Britain will change his religion;
if he change his religion, all conscientious Protestants will be
reduced; and all this to be done, not by the old way of
disputing, — no, take heed of that, 'the burnt child dreads
the fire', — but by a proper new way of refuting old Pro
testant principles by new Independent practices. Why was
this remedy found out no sooner? This might have eased
the Cardinals in their consultations about propagating the
Faith11; this might have saved Cardinal Allen1 all his Ma-
chiavelian instructions to his English emissaries ; this may in
a short time turn the Inquisitors out of their employment for
want of an object, and not leave such a thing as heretical
pravity in the world. How must men praise your fortune,
and applaud your invention ? But stay ; the second thoughts
are wiser: what if this chain, supposed to be of adamant,
should prove a rope of sand? And so it is. I have seen a
sorites disgraced, and hissed out of the schools, for drawing
*> [The Congregation "De Propaganda of St. Mary's Hall in Oxford during
Fide," which consisted originally of the reign of Queen Mary, but went
either thirteen or eighteen Cardinals, with abroad upon the accession of Elizabeth
only two priests, one monk, and a secre- on account of his religion, and took an
tary, was founded by Gregory XV. in active part in founding the English
1622: and the seminary for the same Colleges at Douay, Rheims, and Rome,
purpose was added by Urban VIII. in His zeal was rewarded by a Canonry of
1627. Mosh., Eccles. Hist., Cent. xvii. Cambray, and then of Rheims, by a
sect. 1. §. 1, 2.] Cardinal's hat in 1587, and the Arch-
1 [For an account of the celebrated bishopric of Mechlin in 1581), and finally
Card. Allen (Alanus}, see Godwin's by the appointment of ' Prasfectus Mis-
Praesul., inter Cardinal., in iin. — Cam- sionum Anglicanarum' in 1591; in
den's Annal. Reg. Elizab., in aim. which last capacity, and as Rector suc-
1589, 1594. — Wood's Athen. Oxon. by cessively of the two Colleges of Douay
Bliss, vol. i. pp. 615, &c.— and the and Rheims, he directed the too corn-
Roman Catholic Dodd's Ch. Hist., vol. inonly treasonable intrigues of the nu-
ii. pp. 44, &c. 219. &c. He was sue- merous seminary-priests sent thence
cessively Fellow of Oriel, and Principal into England.]
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 67
but one lame leg after it ; this is foundered of all four : from DISCOURSE
the beginning to the latter end there is nothing in it but - —
future contingents, which are known only to God,— not one
grain of necessary truth.
First, Sir, be not angry if a man take away the subject of The King
your whole discourse : it is but your officiousness, the King
desires no such conference. Let them desire conferences
who waver in their faith k. All these blustering storms have
radicated him deeper in his religion : and chiefly that which
you make the chiefest motive to his apostating, the martyr
dom of his Royal father, and an hereditary love to that
Church which he hath justified with his blood"!
Secondly, if his Majesty should incline to such a con- if he
ference, do you think he would desert the English clergy,—
who have forsaken their country, their friends, their estates, reason nor
need to do-
out of their conscience, out of their duty to God and their sert his
Sovereign ; who understand the constitution of the English lefgyh
Church much better than yourself, or any foreigners how
sufficient soever; — and cast himself wholly upon strangers,
whose Reformation (you say) is different from that of Eng- [p. 5.]
land in the points of Episcopacy, Liturgy, and the ceremonies
of the Church? Say; what was the reason of this gross
omission ? Were you afraid of that " image of the Church " [p. 2.]
(as you call it in a slighting manner), which they retained ?
Or did you not think any of the English nation worthy to
bear your books at a conference ? It hath been otherwise
heretofore; and you will find it otherwise now, when you
come to prove it. I know not whether England hath been
more fortunate or unfortunate since the Reformation, in
breeding as many able polemic writers on both sides, as any
nation in Europe; Stapleton, Harding, Parsons, Sanders,
Reynolds, Bishop, &c. for the Roman Church; Jewel,
Andrewes, Abbot, Laud, White, Field, Montague, Reynolds,
Whitaker, &c. for the English Church (I forbear to name
those that are living) ; and many more who come not short of
these, if they had pleased to communicate their talents to the
world. This is such a contumely that reflects upon the
nation; and you must be contented to be told of it.
Thirdly, how are you sure that the King of France and his Such a
conference
k [See note a, p. 7.]
F
68
THE BISHOP OF DERRY S ANSWER TO
p A R T
- ! — "~
not fit to be
granted by
nor to be
byCthemi-
the* Re °f
formed
Church
[ofFrance]
nor could
any such
success be
expected
from it.
Council would give way to such a public conference ? Private
insinuations use to prevail much when a man may lavere ] and
tack to and again to compass his ends; authority or the
sword may put an end to controversies : but public con
ferences for the most part do but start new questions, and
revive old forgotten animosities. What were the Donatists
the better for the Collation at Carthage m ? The mind of a
man is generous ; and where it looks for opposition, it fortifies
itself against it. Urban the Eighth was the wisest Pope you 42
have had of late, who by his moderation and courtesy cooled
much of that heat, which the violence of his predecessors had
raised against the Court of Rome. The mild beams of the
sun were more prevalent than the blustering blasts of the
north wind11. Multiplying of words more commonly engenders
strife, than peace.
Fourthly, upon what grounds are you so confident, that the
ministers of the Reformed Church would admit of such a
public disputation upon those terms which you propose ; that
is, to accept of the Archbishop of Paris and his Coadjutor,
two persons interessed, for competent judges ? I am as con
fident of the contrary, — that they would rather choose to
suffer, than wrong their cause so much. " Frustra fit per
plura, quod fieri potest per pandora : " — it were a readier way
for them, and but the same in effect, to subscribe to a blank
paper, and to submit without disputation.
Fifthly, suppose (all this notwithstanding) such a conference
should hold, what reason have you to promise to yourself
such success as to obtain so easy a victory ? You have had
conferences and conferences again at Poissy0 and other
places, and gained by them just as much as you might put in
1 [Lavere (from veeren, Dutch), to
change the direction often in a course.
Johnson.]
m [ Summoned, A. D. 41 1 , by order of
the Emperor Honorius, at the request
of the Catholic Bishops, to which the
Donatists however acceded ; held in
the same year before the Tribune Mar
cel linus ; and finally decided in favour
of the Catholics. ]
« [Avieni Fab. iv.]
0 [The Colloquy of Poissy was held
in that town, A. D. 1 561 , in the presence
of King Charles IX. and of the Queen-
mother Catherine de Medicis, between
six Cardinals, assisted by several
Bishops and doctors, on the Roman
Catholic side, and, on that of the Re
formed, Theodore Beza, Peter Martyr,
Jean Viret, and ten others. It was
broken off, without effecting any of its
objects, upon the refusal of the Reformed
party to sign a Confession of Faith pre
sented to them on the subject of the
Eucharist. Fleury, Hist. Eccles., liv.
157. torn, xxxii. pp. 103, &c. 4to. 1750,
1758.— Benoit, Hist, de 1'Edit de
Nantes, torn. i. pp. 27, 28.]
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 69
your eye and see never the worse. When conferences are DISCOURSK
only made use of as pageants,, to grace the introduction of '•
some new proselyte, and to preserve his reputation from the
aspersion of desultorious levity, they seem much more effi
cacious than they are: as they know well enough, who are
privy to what is acted in the with drawing-room. The time
was when you have been as confident in a contrary opinion p,
— that such a free conference would have scaled the walls of
Rome, and levelled the Pope's triple Crown.
Sixthly, whether the ministers should accept of such a The Au-
partial unequal conference or not, or whatsoever should be pertinence
the success thereof, you trespass too boldly upon his Majesty's ^with"
patience, to dictate to him so pragmatically, so magisterially, the King.
what he should do, or would do, in such a case, which is
never like to be. Doth his father's constancy encourage you
to believe, that he is ' a reed shaken with the wind ?' " Qui [Matt.x\7.
pauca considcrat, facile pronunciat :" — ' he that weighs no ££ ]G V11>
more circumstances or occurrences than serve for the ad
vancement of his design, pronounceth sentence easily/ but
temerariously, and for the most part unsoundly. When such
a thing as you dream of should happen, it were good manners
in you to leave his Majesty to his Christian liberty; but to
trouble yourself and others about the moon's shining in the
water, so unseasonably, so impertinently, or with what will
come to pass when the sky falls, is unbeseeming the Coun
sellor of a King.
Lastly, consider how your pen doth overrun your reason, His pen
and overreach all grounds of probability, to ascribe unto his
Majesty's change such an infallible influence upon all Pro
testants, as to reduce them to the Roman communion, — not
only his own subjects, but foreigners. His blessed father's
example had not so much influence upon the Scots his native
subjects. He was no changeling, indeed, neither to the right
hand nor to the left. Henry the Fourth, his grandfather, did
turn indeed to the Roman Church. Had his change any
such influence upon the Protestant party in France? I
know 110 followers such a change would gain him, but I
foresee clearly how many hearts it would lose him. Certainly,
Sir, if you would do a meritorious piece of service to his
p [See above, note a, p. 7-]
70
THE BISHOP OF DERBY 8 ANSWER TO
PA RT
I.
[pp. 10.11.]
His im
proper
choice of a
patron for
his treatise
[of Tran-
substantia
tion].
pp. 8, &c.
His unskil
ful ness, or
his unfor-
tunateness,
in his ' De
monstra
tions.'
greatest adversaries, you could not fix upon any tiling that
would content them more highly, than to see you successful
in this undertaking.
I have done with your proposition. He that compares
it and your 'Demonstration' together, will easily judge them
to be twins, at the first sight.
As a motive to his Majesty's conversion, you present him
with a treatise of Transubstantiation, and desire ( that it may
appear unto the world under his Royal name/
I meddle not with your treatise ; — some of your learned
adversary's friends will give you your hands full enough ; —
but how can his Majesty protect or patronize a treatise
against his judgment, against his conscience, so contrary to the
doctrine of the Church of England, not only since the Refor
mation, but before ? About the year 700 : — ' The Body of
Christ wherein He suffered, and His Body consecrated in the
Host, differ much. The Body wherein He suffered was born 43
of the Virgin, consisting of flesh and bones and human
members ; His Spiritual Body, which we call the Host, con
sists of many grains, without blood, bones, or human mem
bers ; wherefore nothing is to be understood there corporally,
but all spiritually q.' Traiisubstantiation was neither held for
an article of Faith, nor a point of Faith, in those days.
You charge the Protestants in divers places, ' That they
have neither Church nor Faith, but have lost both;' and at
the latter end of your treatise you undertake to demonstrate
it1": but your f Demonstration ' is a mere paralogism. You
multiply your terms, you confound your terms, you change
and alter your terms, contrary to the rules of right arguing ;
and vainly beat the air, concluding nothing which you ought
to prove, nothing which your adversary will deny. You
would prove that Protestants have no Church. That you
q Serm. Saxon, in Festo Paschat.
[" A Sermon of the Paschal Lainbe,
and of the Sacramental Body and Bloud
of Christ our Saviour, written in the old
Saxon tongue before the Conquest, and
appointed in the reigne of the Saxons
to be spoken unto the people at Easter,
&c." — first printed (with a translation,
modernized by Bramhall in the text) by
order of Abp. Parker, by John Day, Lond.
8vo. (Strype's Parker, vol. i. p. 472.
Oxf. 1821) ; and thence by Foxe (Acts
and Monum. bk. viii. pp. 1142, sq. edit,
of 1583), Lisle (Ancient Monum. &c.
Lond. 1623, and again 1638), and
others. It was translated from Latin
into Saxon by JElfric about the end of
the tenth century. See a full account
of it in Soames's Bampton Lectures,
pp. 422, &c.]
r P. 222. [of the " Victoire de la
Verite." See note b, p. 10, of La
Milletiere's Epistle.]
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 71
never attempt. But you do attempt to prove (how pitiful, DISCOURSE
God knows), that they are not the only Church, that is, the : —
One Holy Catholic Church. This they did never affirm, they
did never think. It sufficeth them to be a part of that uni
versal Church ; more pure, more orthodox, more Catholic,
than the Roman ; always professing Christ visibly, never
lurking invisibly in another communion, which is another of
your mistakes8. I should advise you to promise us no more
" Evident Demonstrations ;" either your skill, or your luck, is
so extremely bad.
In the second place you affirm, that ' Faith is founded upon
Divine authority and Revelation, and deposited with the
Church V All that is true ; but that which you add, that " it
is founded in the authority of Christ speaking by the mouth
of His Church1/' — by this Church understanding the Church
of this age, and (which is yet worse) the Church of one place,
and (which is worst of all) the Bishop of that one Church, — is
most false.
And so is that which you add, that ' the Faith of Pro- The great
advantage
testants is founded upon their own reasonings, which makes of the Pro-
so many differences among them*/ Reason must be subser- above the
vient in the application of the rule of Faith ; it cannot be
the foundation of Faith. Bad reasoning may bring forth
differences and errors about Faith, both with you and us ; dation.
but the abuse of reason doth not take away the use of reason.
We have this advantage of you, that if any one of us do build
an erroneous opinion upon the Holy Scripture, yet, because
our adherence to the Scripture is firmer and nearer than our
adherence to our particular error, that full and free and uni
versal assent, which we give to Holy Scripture and to all
things therein contained, is an implicit condemnation and
retractation of our particular error, which we hold unwittingly,
and unwillingly, against Scripture : but your foundation of
Faith being composed of uncertainties, — whether this man be
Pope or not, whether this Pope be judge or not, whether this
judge be infallible or not, and if infallible, wherein, and how
far ; — the Faith which is builded thereupon cannot but be
fallible and uncertain : the stricter the adherence is to a false,
5 [Field, Of the Church, bk. i. c. 10. l [Pp. 226, 227, of the " Viet, de la
pp. 14, &c.j Ver."]
72 THE BISHOP OF DERRY^S ANSWER TO
PART uncertain, or fallible rule, tlie more dangerous is the error.
— So our right foundation purgeth away our error in super-
struction ; and your wrong foundation lessens the value of
your truths, and doubles the guilt of your errors.
[The AU- I will (by your leave) requite your ' Demonstration/ and
monstr'aDe~ turn the mouths of your own canons against yourself.
^it'ecT That Church which hath changed the Apostolical Creed,
upon him- the Apostolical succession, the Apostolical regiment, and the
Apostolical communion, is no Apostolical, orthodox, or Catho
lic Church.
But the Church of Rome hath changed the Apostolical
Creed, the Apostolical succession, the Apostolical regiment,
and the Apostolical communion.
Therefore the Church of Rome is no Apostolical, orthodox,
or Catholic Church.
They have changed the Apostolical Creed, — by making a
new Creed u, wherein are many things inserted, that hold no
analogy with the old Apostles' Creed ; the Apostolical suc
cession, — by engrossing the whole succession to Rome, and
making all other Bishops to be but the Pope's Yicars and sub
stitutes, as to their jurisdiction ; the Apostolical regiment, — by 44
erecting a visible and universal monarchy in the Church ; and,
lastly, the Apostolical communion, — by excommunicating
three parts of the Holy Catholic Apostolic Church x.
Again ; that Church, which resolves its faith, not into
Divine revelation and authority, but into human infallibility,
or the infallibility of the present Church, without knowing, or
according, what that present Church is, whether the virtual,
or the representative, or the essential, Church, or a body com
pounded of some of these, hath no true faith.
But the Church of Rome resolves its faith, not into Divine
revelation and authority, but into the infallibility of the
present Church, not knowing, or not according, what that
present Church is, whether the virtual Church (that is, the
Pope), or the representative Church (that is, a general Coun
cil), or the essential Church (that is, the Church of believers
diffused over the world), or a body compounded of some of
11 [Viz. the Tridentine Creed ; see in full in Bramhall's Vindication, &c.
above p. 2fi.] c. 8. (Works, pp. 122—125. fol, edit),
* [See these last three points shewn Discourse ii. Tart i.]
•
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 73
these (that is, the Pope and a general or provincial Coun- DISCOURSE
cil) .
Therefore the Church of Rome hath not true faith.
The greater number of your writers is for the Pope, that
this infallibility is fixed to his Chair. But, of all other judg
ments, that is most fallible and uncertain ; for, if simony
make a nullity in a Papal election, we have great reason to
doubt, that that Chair hath not been filled by a right Pope
these last hundred years. These are no other but your own
mediums ; such luck you have with your ' irrefragable demon
strations/
1 In case his Maiesty will turn Roman Catholic/ you pro- P. 12.
• T,- t 4.-*. <.' / i,- v j > HisMajes-
mise mm ' restitution to his Kingdoms. ty's aposta-
Great undertakers are seldom good performers : when you ^way'to
are making your proselytes, you promise them golden moun- {|^s restitu'
tains ; but when the work is done, you deal with them, as he
did with his Saint, who promised a candle as big as his mast,
and offered one no bigger than his finger. Do you, however,
think it reason, that any man should change his religion for
temporal respects, though it were for a kinerdoin ? Jeroboam [i Kings
xii 26 S3 1
did so ; — you may remember what was the success of it.
You propose this as fthe readiest means to restore him/
Others, who penetrate deeper into the true state of his affairs,
look upon it as the readiest way to ruin his hopes, by the
alienation of his friends, by the confirmation of his foes, and
in some sort the justification of their former feigned fears.
Do you think all Roman Catholic princes desire this change
as earnestly as yourself? Give them leave first to consult
with their particular interests. A common interest prevails
more with confederates than a common Faith. The sword
distinguisheth not between Protestants and Papists.
But what is the ground of this your great confidence ? No
less than Scripture ; — " Seek ye first the Kingdom of God [Matt. vi.
and the righteousness of it, and all other things shall be added r i0 -,
unto you." You say fthe word of God deceives no man.'
True, but you may deceive yourself out of the word of God : — •
the conclusion always follows the weaker part. Such as this
are commonly your mistaken grounds, when they come to be
y ['Eccleri&virtttaliSfrepr&sentativft, bk. iv. c. 1. pp. 343, 314.]
rssentidlis.' See Field, Of the Church,
74
PART examined. The text saith, " Seek the Kingdom of God •"
- you would have his Majesty desert the Kingdom of God.
The promise is of all things necessary or convenient ; you will
be your own carver, and oblige God Almighty to kingdoms
and particular conditions. The promise is made (as all tem
poral promises are) with an implicit exception of the Cross, —
unless God see it to be otherwise more expedient for us. He,
that denies us gold and gives us patience and other graces
1 Pet. i. 7. ' more precious than gold/ that denies a temporal kingdom
to give an eternal, doth not wrong us. This was out of your
head.
]>• 12. That the Scots had an ancienter obligation to fidelity
gation of towards his Majesty and that Royal family, than the English,
ig a truth not to be doubted or disputed of; I think I may
add, than any nation in Europe, or in the known
any sub- world, to their Prince, his Majesty being the hundred-and-
known tenth monarch of that line, that hath swayed the sceptre of
that kingdom successively2. The more the pity that a few
xx.] treacherous Shebas, and a pack of bawling seditious orators,
under the vizard and shadow of pure religion, to the extreme
scandal of all honest professors, should be able to overturn
such an ancient fabric and radicated succession of kingly
government.
Their But take heed, Sir, how you believe that any engagement 45
of the Presbyterian faction in Scotland proceeded either
from conscience, or gratitude, or fidelity, or aimed at the
re-settling of his Majesty upon his throne. No, no, their
hearts were double, their treaties on their parts were mere
treacheries from the beginning. I mean not any of those
many loyal patriots, that never bowed their knees to Baal-
[judg. viii. berith, the God of the Covenant, in that nation ; nor yet any
The loyal °f those serious converts, that no sooner discovered the leger-
Scots ex- demain of a company of canting impostors, but they sought
to stop the stream of schism and sedition with the hazard of
their own lives and estates ; nor even those, whose eyes were
z [So says Buchanan (Rer. Scotic. ment, Aug.19, 1641. (Works of Charles
Hist, lib. xviii., in fin.), reckoning I. p. 391. Lond. 1662.), and Bramhall
James the First to be the ] 08th in himself in his Sermon upon the Re-
descent from Fergus, B. C. 330. King storation ( Works, p. 954. fol. edit.), Dis-
Charles the First insists upon the same course ii. Partiv.]
topic in his speech to the Scotch Parlia-
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIEKE, &C. 75
longer held with the spirit of slumber by some stronger spells DISCOURSE
of disciplinarian charmers, but did yet later open their eyes,
and come in to do their duties at the sixth or ninth hour.
All these are expunged by me out of this black roll. Let
their posterities enjoy the fruit of their respective loyalties ;
and let their memories be daily more and more blessed. But
I mean the obstinate ring-leaders and standard-bearers of the
Presbyterian Covenant of both robes, and the setters-up of
that misshapen idol : — it is from these, I say, that no help or The dis-
hope could in reason be expected. They, who sold the deci-
father, and such a father, were not likely to prove loyal to phe
the son : they, who hanged up one of the most ancient
gentlemen in Europe, the gallant Marquis of Montrose,
being then their lawful Viceroy, like a dog in such base and
barbarous manner, together with his Majesty's commission,
to the public dishonour of their King, in the chief city of
that kingdom, in a time of treaty a : they, who purged the
army, over and over, as loth on their parts willingly to leave
one dram of honesty or loyalty in it ; who would not admit
their fellow-subjects of much more merit and courage than
themselves to assist them : they, who would not permit his
Majesty to continue among the soldiery, lest he should grow
too popular : they, who, after they had proclaimed to the
world his title and right to the Crown, yet sought to have
him excluded from the benefit of it and from the execution
of his kingly office, until he should abjure his religion, cast
dirt upon his parents, alienate his loyal subjects, and ratify
the usurpations of his rebels b : these, these, I say, — were
most unlikely persons to be his restorers. Was it ever heard
before, that subjects acknowledged a Sovereign, and yet en
deavoured to exclude him from his rights, until he had
granted whatsoever seemed good in their eyes ? Others may NO hope
be more severe in their judgments ; but I for my part could party, until
be well contented, that God would give them the honour to
a [See Wisheart's Life of Montrose, circumstance Bramhall's words may
pp.188 — 193. ed. 1720. The declara- perhaps refer.]
tion published by the Marquis in the b [Compare Hume's account of
name of the King upon his last return Charles's brief reign, if it may be so
into Scotland in 1650, was hung round called, in Scotland, — Hist, of Eng., Of
his neck at his execution; to which the Common w., c. 1.]
76 THE BISHOP OF DERRY^S ANSWER TO
p A R T be the repairers of the breach, who have been the makers of
- the breach ; to be the restorers of monarchy, who have been
the ruiners of monarchy ; to be the re-establishers of peace,
who have been the chiefest Catilines and promoters of war :
but that can never be whilst they justify their former rebel
lious practices, and, after they have eaten and devoured,
[Prov.xxx. 'wipe their mouths, and say, What have we done ?' — until
they acknowledge their former errors. Repentance only is
able to knit the broken bone. Why should they be more
afraid to confess their faults and shame the Devil, than to
commit them ?
p. 13. Yet I cannot say with vou, that this fhath robbed his
God must ,, . ,, . ,
not be li- Majesty of all hopes and means of recovery. W e may not
linnt God to any time, Who commonly withholds His help
until tlie bricks be doubled, until the edge of the razor doth
touch the very throat of His servant, that the glory of the
work may wholly redound to Himself. We may not limit
God to those means which seem most probable in our eyes.
So long as Joseph trusted to his friend in Court, God did
[Gen. xi.] forget him ; when Pharaoh's Butler had quite forgotten
Joseph, then God remembered him. God hath nobler ways
of restitution than by battles and bloodshed; that is, by
xxxiii changing the hearts of His creatures at His pleasure, and
turning Esau's vowed revenge into love and kindness.
p. is. I confess, ' his Majesty's resolution was great •/ so was his
jesty's es- prudence ; that neither fear (' which useth to betray the
EnSami °f succours of the soulc '), nor any indiscreet action, or word, or
almost mi- gesture, in so long a time, should either discover him, or
raculous.
render him suspected. When I consider that the heir of a
crown, in the midst of that kingdom where he had his
breeding, whom all men's eyes had used to court as the
rising sun, of no common features or physiognomy, at such
time when he was not only believed but known to be among 40
them, when every corner of the kingdom was full of spies to
search for him, and every port and inn full of officers to ap
prehend him ; I say, that he should travel at such a time, so
long, so far, so freely, in the sight of the sun, exposed to the
view of all persons, without either discovery, or suspicion,
0 ["Fear is nothing else but a be- offereth." Wisdom xvii. 12.]
fraying of the succours which reason
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIEKE, &C. 77
seems little less than a miracle ; — tliat God liad smitten the DISCOURSE
eyes of those who met him with blindness ; as the eyes of the
Sodomites,, that they could not find Lot's door, or the Syrian n.]
soldiers that were sent to apprehend Elisha. This strange vi. laW]
escape, and that former out of Scotland, where his condition fo presage*
was not much better, nor his person much safer, do seem *ha£ God
ncttn. some
strangely to presage, that God hath yet some great work to things to
, , , , . . TT. ,. do with
be done by him in His own due time. him.
You attribute this rare deliverance, and the hopes of his PP. 13, 14.
„ , . , , Prayers and
conversion, in part ' to the prayers and tears 01 his mother, tears the
Prayers and tears were the only proper arms of the old j^fof
primitive Christians ; more particularly they are the best women ;
and most agreeable defence of that sex ; but especially the especially
prayers and tears of a mother, for the ' son of her desires/ °
are most powerful. As it was said of the prayers and tears
of Monica for St. Austin her son, "fieri non potuit ut filius
istarum lacrymarum periret" — "it could not be that a son
should perish for whom so many tears were shed d." God
f sees her tears/ and ' hears her prayers/ and will grant her [p. 14.]
request, if not according to her will and desire (we often ask powerful as
those things, which, being granted, would prove prejudicial JJjjJj^'*
to ourselves and our friends), yet 'ad utilitatem*' — to his sion,now in
J . . Heaven.
Majesty's greater advantage, which is much better : she
wisheth him a good Catholic, and God will preserve him a
good Catholic as he is. We do not doubt but the prayers of
his father ('who now follows the Lamb in his whites') for [Rev.vii.i3,
his perseverance, will be more effectual with God, than the l4
prayers of his mother for his change.
Your instance of his Majesty's grandfather, your grand p. U-
King Henry the Fourth, is not so apposite, or fit for your thor's in-
purpose. He gained his crown by turning himself towards Hem-y the
his people ; you would persuade his Majesty to turn from his
people, and to cast away his possibilities of restitution ; that
is, ' to cut off a natural leg, and take one of wood f '.
To the tears of his mother you add the blood of his father, The just
whom you justly style happy, and say most truly of him, that dation of
a [August. Confess., lib. iii. c. 12. p. 866. " Utilitati magis quam volun-
tom. i. p. 96. F.] tati." Id., Epist. civ. § 7. torn. ii. p.
c ["Exauditus ad salutem etsi non 292. D.]
ad voluntatcm." August. In Joh. Epist, f Plutarch. [?]
c, 3. Tract, vi. § 6, 7. torn. iii. P. 2.
78
PART < he preferred the Catholic Faith before his crown, his liberty,
Ki^; - his life, and whatsoever was most dear unto him/ This Faith
FtheFirstl was f°rmerty rooted in his heart by God, not ' secretly and
invisibly in the last moments of his life to nnite him to the'
(Roman) ' Catholic Church/ but openly during his whole
reign, all which time he lived in the bosom of the true
It is gross Catholic Church. Yet you are so extremely partial to your-
dence to se^f> that you affirm that he died invisibly a member of your
R°man Catholic Church, as it is by you contra-distinguished
Roman Ca- to the rest of the Christian world : — an old pious fraud or
artifice of yours, learned from Machiavel, to gain credit to
your religion by all means, either true or false ; but contrary
to his own profession at his death e, contrary to the express
knowledge of all that were present at his murder; — upon a
vain presumption, that " talem, nisi vestra Ecclesia, nulla
pareret filium" And because you are not able to produce
one living witness, you cite St. Austin to no purpose, to prove
that ' the elect before they are converted, do belong invisibly
to the Church11': — yea, and before they were born also1.
But St. Austin neither said nor thought, that after they are
converted they make no visible profession, or profess the con
trary to that which they believe. Seek not thus to adorn
your particular Church, not with borrowed, but with stolen,
Saints, whom all the world know to have been none of yours.
What Faith he professed living, he confirmed dying. In the
communion of the Church of England he lived, and in that
communion at his death he commended his soul into the
hands of God his Saviour.
The Au- That which you have confessed here concerning King
fession " Charles, will spoil your former ' Demonstration/ that ' the Pro-
testants have neither Church nor Faith V
But you confess no more in particular here, than I have
monstra- heard some of your famous Roman doctors in this city ] ac
tion,' that , , -.
'Protestants knowledge to be true in general; and no more than that
have no
E [Made upon the scaffold to Bp. St. Augustin himself, Serm. xxvi. torn.
Juxon (King Charles's Works, p. 455). v. p. 138. B.]
See also Bramhall's Vindication of k [Compare Leslie, Case Stated be-
Episc. Clergy, c. 3. (Works, p. 617. tween the Churches of England and
fol. edit.), Discourse iii. Part ii.] Rome, § 25. Works, vol. iii. p. 87. Oxf.
h [August., DeBapt. cont. Donatist., 1832.]
lib. v. c. 38. torn. ix. p. 159. F.] ' [Paris; see note 1, p. 23.]
' [" Eliguntur qui non sunt," — says
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 79
which the Bishop of Chalcedon (a man that cannot be sus- DISCOURSE
pected of partiality on our side) hath affirmed and published —
in two of his books to the world in print m, that " Protestant-
ibus credentibus, &c." — ' persons living in the communion of
47 the Protestant Church, if they endeavour to learn the truth,
and are not able to attain unto it, but hold it implicitly in
the preparation of their minds, and are ready to receive it
when God shall be pleased to reveal it' (which all good Pro
testants and all good Christians are), fthey neither want
Church, nor Faith, nor salvation/ Mark these words well.
" They have neither Church, nor Faith," say you ; — if they
be thus qualified (as they all are), they ' neither want Church,
nor Faith, nor Salvation/ saith he.
Lastly, Sir, to let us see, that your intelligence is as good His inteiii-
in Heaven as it is upon earth, and that you know both who
are there, and what they do, you tell us, that the crown and
conquest, which his late Majesty gained by his sufferings, [p. 14.]
was procured by the intercession of his grandmother Queen
Mary. We should be the apter to believe this, if you were
able to make it appear, that all the Saints in Heaven do know
all the particular necessities of all their posterity upon earth.
St. Austin makes the matter much more doubtful than you, —
that's the least of his assertion, — or rather to be plainly false ;
' ' Fatendum est nescire quidem mortuos quid Me agatur^" But
with presumptions you did begin your Dedication, and with
presumptions you end it. In the mean time, till you can NO Faith
make that appear, — we observe, that neither Queen Mary's arSom"1
constancy in the Roman Catholic Faith, nor Henry the asainst
J J bloody
Fourth's change to the Roman Catholic Faith, could save attempts.
them from a bloody end. Then by what warrant do you im
pute King Charles his sufferings to his error in religion ? Be
your own judge.
' Heu quanta de spe decidimus ' — ( alas ! from what hopes TheAuthor
are we fallen0 !' Pardon our error, that we have mistaken ™ [in the
you so long. You have heretofore pretended yourself to be a Jjf^ end
treatise]
from his
m [See the Vindication of the Church vero audire ab eis, qui hinc ad eos mori- former
of England, c. 6. (Works, p. 100. fol. endo pergunt ; non quidem omnia, sed
edit.), Discourse ii. Part i.] quas sinuntur indicare . . ., et quse . . .
August. De Cura pro Mortuis. c. audire oportet."]
15. [torn. vi. p. 527. E ; who adds how- ° [Terent. Heautont. ii. 3. 9.]
ever, "... sed dum hie agitur ; postea
80 THE BISHOP OF DERRY^S ANSWER, &C.
moderate person, and one that seriously endeavoured the re-
charitv in UIU>tm& °^ Christendom by a fair accommodation. The widest
seeking the wounds are closed up in time, and strange plants bv inocula-
re- union of , .
Christen- tion are incorporated together and made one ; and is there
no way to close up the wounds of the Church, and to unite
the disagreeing members of the same mystical Body ? Why
[Numb. were Caleb amd Joshua only admitted into the land of pro-
2 ' mise, whilst the carcases of the rest perished in the wilder
ness, but only because they had been peacemakers in a time
of schism ? Well fare our learned and ingenuous country
man S. Clara P, who is altogether as perspicacious as yourself,
but much more charitable. You tell us to our grief, that
1 there is no accommodation to be expected ; that Cardinal
Richelieu was too good a Christian, and too good a Catholic,
to have any such thought ; that the one religion is true, the
other false, and that there is no society between light and
darkness *.' This is plain dealing, to tell us what we must
trust to. No peace is to be expected from you, unless we will
come unto you upon our knees with the words of the Prodigal
[Luke xv. Child in our mouths, — f Father forgive us, we have sinned
against Heaven, and against thee/ Is not this rare courtesy?
If we will submit to your will in all things, you will have 110
longer difference with us. So we might come to shake a
worse Church by the hand, than that which we were separated
from.
The way to If you could be contented to wave your last four hundred
accommo- years' determinations ; or, if you liked them for yourselves,
dation. ye£ noj- {o obtrude them upon other Churches ; if you could
rest satisfied with your old Patriarchal power, and your
' principium unitatis,' or primacy of order1", much good might
be expected from free Councils, and conferences from mode
rate persons; and we might yet live in hope to see an
union, if not in all opinions, yet in charity and all necessary
points of saving truth, between all Christians ; to see the
Eastern and Western Churches join hand in hand, and sing
— " Ecce quam bonum et quam jucundum est habitare fratres
p [" Ego . . omnino judico, multos" tura, Gratia £c." Probl. xv. p. 121.
(e Protestantibus in Anglia) " ab omni Luvrd. 1635.]
culpa prorsus immunes, £c. &c. ... q p. 204. [Discourse upon Transub-
ipsos posse salvari ; et pie spero sic actu stantiation in the "Viet, de la Ver."]
multos salvos." S. Clara, " Deus, Xa- T [See note ra, p. 32. J
THE EPISTLE OF M. DE LA MILLETIERE, &C. 81
in unum" — " Behold how good and pleasant a thing it is for DISCOURSE
brethren to dwell together in unity/' But whilst you impose —
upon us daily new articles of Faith, and urge rigidly what cxxxiii. 1.]
you have unadvisedly determined ; we dare not sacrifice truth
to peace, nor be separated from the Gospel, to be joined to the
Roman Church. Yet, in the point of our separation, and in
all things which concern either doctrine or discipline, we pro
fess all due obedience and submission to the judgment and
definitions of the truly Catholic Church ; lamenting with all
our hearts the present condition of Christendom, which
renders an (Ecumenical Council, if not impossible (men's
judgments may be had, where their persons cannot), yet very
difficult ; wishing one, as general as might be ; and (until God
43 send such an opportunity) endeavouring to conform ourselves
in all things, both in credendis et agendis, to whatsoever is
uniform in the belief or practice, in the doctrine or discipline,
of the Universal Church ; and, lastly, holding an actual com
munion with all the divided parts of the Christian world in
most things, et in voto — according to our desires — in all
things.
BRAMHALL.
DISCOURSE II.
JUST VINDICATION
OF THE
CHURCH OF ENGLAND
PROM THE
UNJUST ASPERSION OF CRIMINAL SCHISM.
WHEREIN THE NATURE OF CRIMINAL SCHISM,
THE DIVERS SORTS OF SCHISMATICS,
THE LIBERTIES AND PRIVILEGES OF NATIONAL CHURCHES,
THE RIGHTS OF SOVEREIGN MAGISTRATES,
THE TYRANNY, EXTORTION, AND SCHISM OF THE ROMAN COURT,
WITH THE GRIEVANCES, COMPLAINTS, AND OPPOSITION,
OF ALL PRINCES AND STATES OF THE ROMAN COMMUNION, OF OLD
AND AT THIS VERY DAY, ARE MANIFESTED TO
THE VIEW OF THE WORLD.
BY THE RIGHT REVEREND FATHER IN GOD
JOHN BRAMHALL,
DOCTOR IN DIVINITY, AND LORD BISHOP OF DERRY.
" My name is CHRISTIAN, my surname is CATHOLIC : by the one I am known
from infidels ; by the other, from heretics and schismatics."
[" Christianus mihi nomen est, Catholicus cognomen : illud me nuncupat, istud
ostendit."]
Pacian. ad Sympronian. Epist. [I. De Cathol. nomine, ap. Biblioth.
Patr., torn. iv. p. 236. A.B., as quoted and translated by Field
(Of the Church, bk. ii. c. 9.) from Bellarm. (De Eccles. Milit.,
lib. iv. c. 4.]
THE
CONTENTS
OP
THE PARTICULAR CHAPTERS.
CHAP. I.
Page
The scope and sum of this Treatise. . . . .95
Nothing more probably objected to the Church of England than SCHISM. ib.
But nothing more unjustly. . . . . . ib.
The method observed in this Discourse. . . . . .96
[viz. I. To state the question, shewing
/•"What is schism in the abstract :
I Who are schismatics in the concrete ;
| What we understand by the Church of England in this
^ question. .... ib.
II. To lay down six grounds or propositions, each singly suffi
cient to wipe away the stain and guilt of schism from the
Church of England :
1. That Protestants were not the authors of the late sepa
ration from Rome, but Roman Catholics.
2. That, in abandoning the Court of Rome they did not
make any new law, but only restored the old law of the
land to its former vigour.
3. That the ancient British, and Scottish or Irish, Churches
are rightfully exempt from the patriarchal jurisdiction
of the Roman Bishops.
4. That the king and Church of England had both suffi
cient authority and sufficient grounds to withdraw
their obedience as they did.
5. That all the sovereign princes and republics in Europe
of the Roman communion do either practise, or plead
for, the same right, or both.
6. That the Papacy itself is in a great part actually, and
altogether causally, guilty both of this and of all the
greater schisms in Christendom. . . .97
III. To give a satisfactory answer to the objections of those
of the Roman Communion.] . . . .98
86 CONTENTS.
CHAP. II.
Page
The stating- of the question : — what is schism ; who are schis
matics ; and what is signified by the Church of England in
this question. . . . . . . .98
Every passionate heat not schism. . . . . . ib.
Ecclesiastical quarrels of long continuance not always schism. . ib.
The separators may be free from schism, and the other party guilty. 100
To withdraw obedience is not always criminous schism. . .101
What is single [i. e. mere] schism. ..... 103
Wherein internal communion doth consist. . . . ib.
Wherein external communion doth consist. . . .104
[Internal communion may not,] external communion may, be
suspended ; ...... ib.
And withdrawn. . . . . . . . ib.
There is not the like necessity of communicating in all externals. . 105
Christian communion implies not unity in all opinions ; . ib.
[But sometimes admits and even commands separation.] . 106
The sorts of [mere] schism. . . . ] 08
What the Catholic Church signifies. . . . .109
Each member of the Catholic Church is Catholic inclusively. . ib.
Schism is changeable. . . . . . . . ib.
And for the most part complicated with heretical pravity ; .110
[And violation of order.] . . . ib.
Four ways to become heretical. . . . . . ib.
Who are Catholics ; . . . . . .111
Who are schismatics. . . . . . . .112
What is understood by the Church of England. . . . ib.
CHAP. III.
That the separation from Rome was not made by Protestants,
but by Roman Catholics themselves. . . .113
Roman Catholics first authors of the separation from Rome. . . ib.
(Romanists first gave the king the title of Head of the Church.) 115
[Three exceptions answered] —
1. Henry the Eighth no friend to the Protestants. . .117
(The Author's opinion of monasteries [and of the suppres
sion of them by Henry the Eighth].) . . .118
Henry the Eighth no friend to Protestants. . . 1 20
Much less those who joined with him in the separation
from Rome. . . . . . . ib.
England unanimous in casting out the Pope. . .121
And Ireland. . . . . . .122
2. The pretended crimes of Henry the Eighth no blemish to the
Reformation. . ib.
CONTENTS. 87
Page
3. [If it be schismatical to withhold obedience as well as to with
draw it, then the Roman Catholics, who were the first
separators, were schismatics.] .... 123
(Our laws are not cruel against Roman Catholics.) . 124
Though the first separators were schismatics, we are free. . 126
Protestants no authors of the separation from the Church [any more
than from the Court~\ of Rome. . . . 1 28
CHAP. IV.
That the king and kingdom of England, in their separation
from Rome, did make no new law, but vindicate the ancient
law of the land. ....... 129
[It must be granted, that]
1. Eminent persons have great influence without any jurisdiction. . ib.
2. The dignity of the Apostolical Churches [was great in the primitive
times.] ........ ib.
3. It is no marvel that the Pope winded himself into England by degrees. 131
[But
1. This intrusion was manifest usurpation and tyranny.]
No Saxon, English, or British, king, ever made any obliging sub
mission to the Pope. . . , . ib.
The Pope's power in England was of courtesy. . .132
[2. The dubious unquiet possession, which the Popes did hold in England,
was not sufficient to make a legal prescription.]
Wilfrid the first great appellant [to Rome]. . . .133
[Anselm. . . . . . .135
The Statute of Clarendon.] . . . .136
Legations as rare as appeals. . . . . . ib.
Saxon kings made ecclesiastical laws. . . . .137
(An old artifice of the Roman Bishops [to grant those things which
were none of their own.]) . . . . .138
Norman kings enjoyed the same power. . . ib.
Canon law of no more force in England than as it was received. . 140
[Canon concerning] Bigamy. . . . . ib.
[No legate de latere allowed in England, but the Archbishop of
Canterbury.] . . . . . . ib.
(The statute of Mortmain justified.) . . .141
[The Constitutions of Clarendon. . . .143
Statute of Carlisle. . . . . .145
Articles of the clergy. . .146
Statute of Provisors. . . ib.
Statute of Prsemunire.] . .147
The sovereignty of our kings in ecclesiastical causes over ecclesiastical
persons. ........ 150
88 CONTENTS.
Page
King Henry the Eighth did no more than his predecessors. . 150
The judgment of our English lawyers. "... ' . . . 151
CHAP. V.
That the Britannic Churches were ever exempted from all
foreign jurisdiction, and so ought to continue. . .152
1. The supremacy in the whole College of the Apostles . . ib.
2. The other Apostles had successors as well as St. Peter. . .153
Why the Bishop of Rome St. Peter's successor, rather than of
Antioch? , . . . . . .154
3. The highest constitution of the Apostles exceeded not national Primates. ib.
4. How some Primates came to be more respected in the Church than others : 155
Either by custom ; ...... ib.
Or from the grandeur of the city ; ib.
Or by decrees of Councils ; . . . . ib.
Or by edicts of princes. ...... 156
5. Many Primates subject to none of the five great Patriarchs. . . ib.
The case between the Patriarch of Antioch and Cyprian Bishops
[at the Council of Ephesus.] . . . . ib.
The case of the Cyprian Bishops applied. . . .157
The proof in this cause ought to rest upon our adversaries : [for men are not
put to prove negatives. . . . . . .158
(Why York is set before London.) . . . .159
Yet, for further manifestation of the truth, it is to be considered, that]
1. The Britannic Church is an cienter than the Roman. . . . 160
2. The Britannic Churches sided with the Eastern against the Roman. ib.
3. The British Bishops were ordained at home. . . . ,161
4. The answer of Dionothus. . . . . . .162
Confirmed by two British Synods. . . . .163
CHAP. VI.
That the king and Church of England had both sufficient
authority, and sufficient grounds, to withdraw their obedi
ence from Rome. . . . . . . .165
I. Sovereign princes have power lo alter whatsoever is of human institution
in ecclesiastical discipline. . . . . . ib.
[Dr. Holden's three objections answered
1, True case of England against Rome.] . . .166
CONTENTS. 89
Page
2. Protestants in their reformation have altered no articles of
religion nor sacred rites, nor violated charity. . .167
3. Protestants in their reformation have not swerved from the
law of nature, or the positive laws of God. . .168
In cases doubtful we may not disobey the king and the
laws. . . . . . .169
Unjust commands may be justly obeyed. . . ib.
[The Romanists themselves do acknowledge, that]
1. Princes are obliged to protect their subjects from the tyranny
of ecclesiastical judges ; . . . ib.
2. Kings may exercise external acts of ecclesiastical jurisdiction
by fit delegates. . . . . . .170
The emperors of old did the same ; . . .171
[That is, under civil pains.] . . . .172
Popes convented, imprisoned, deposed, by emperors. . ib.
3. The Council of Tours [with S. Clara] allows to withdraw
obedience from the Pope in certain cases. . . .173
Princes may reform new canons by old. . . .175
Patriarchal power subject to imperial. . . . .176
Emperors have changed Patriarchs ; . . . 177
By their [own] authority. . . . . .178
English kings as sovereign as the emperors. . . ib.
II. Two sorts of grounds for substraction of obedience; . . . 179
[Personal faults, which reflect upon none but the persons
who are guilty.
Faulty principles, which do warrant a more permanent
separation.] . . . . . ib.
1. Our first ground [of separation from Rome ; viz. the intolerable
extortions and excessive rapine of the Court of Rome. . 180
Testimony of Matthew Paris. . . . .181
Grosthead, Bishop of Lincoln. . . 182
Sewalus, Archbishop of York.] . . 183
2. Our second ground ; [viz. the most unjust usurpations and
extreme violations of all sorts of rights by the Court of
Rome. ....... ib.
Of the rights of the king. . . . . ib.
(Arch-priest Blackwell scandalized at the doctrine of
Cardinal Allen, ' That none can be admitted king of
England without the Pope's leave.') . .184
Case of Henry the Second. . . . .186
Case of King John . . . . .187
Of the rights of the nobility. . . . .189
Of the rights of the Bishops. . . . ib.
Of the rights of the people.] • . . .190
3. The third ground ; [viz. that foreign jurisdiction so exercised
was destructive to ecclesiastical discipline.] . . . ib.
4. The fourth ground ; [viz. the inconveniences in which adher
ence to the Pope would have involved us. . .191
5. The last ground; viz. the Pope's challenge of a spiritual
monarchy by Divine right.] . . . .192
90 CONTENTS.
[No defect in the manner of proceeding of the king and Church of
England : viz. that a remonstrance was not first made to
the Pope himself. . . . . . .192
1. The Roman Bishops are not our lawful Patriarchs. . .193
2. Addresses to the Pope proved vain and fruitless by frequent
experience . . . . . ib.
3. Henry the Eighth himself an unsuccessful suitor to Clement
the Seventh.] . . . . . .196
III. The moderation of the English Reformers [in the manner of their
separation. . . . . . . .197
1. Neither they nor we deny the being of any other Churches,
nor possibility of salvation in them. . . ib.
Roman Catholics answered, who lay hold on this our cha
ritable assertion. . . . . .198
2. Our separation is made with as much inward charity as is
possible. . . . . . . .199
3. We do not arrogate to ourselves either a new Church or a new
religion or new Holy Orders. .... ib.
4. We are ready in the preparation of our minds to believe and
practise whatsoever the Catholic Church, even of this present
age, doth universally and unanimously believe and practise.] 200
CHAP. VII.
That all kingdoms and republics of the Roman communion, —
Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Sicily, Brabant, Venice,
— do the same thing in effect, when they have occasion. . ib.
[For all Protestant states, this admits no dispute. . . ib.
For the Grecian, and all other Eastern, Churches, it can no more be doubted
of than of the Protestants. . . . . . . ib.
Roman Catholic states : — .... .201
I. The French and German Emperors,] . . . . ib.
The case of England not the same with [that of] Germany [in two
respects. . . . . . . . ib.
Yet the emperors have done as much in relation to the Court of
Rome, as the kings of England.] . . . 205
1. Emperors convocated Synods ; . ib.
And confirmed Synods ; . . ib.
And by them reformed the Church. . . 206
The English Reformation not schismatical. . 207
1. [The schism was begun before the Reformation. . ib.
2. Great necessity of reformation both in Germany
and England. . ib.
Testimony of Adrian the Sixth. . . ib.
... Cardinal Pole. . 208
CONTENTS. 91
Page
3. The German emperors did not only desire, but in
some measure effect, a reformation. . . 209
The Concordats, &c. . . .210
The Interim. . . . ib.
The declaration of the Emperor Ferdinand.] 211
2. The emperors made themselves the last judges of their [own]
liberties and necessities [, and of those of their people], . ib.
3. Emperors enjoyed investitures. .... 213
4. Emperors have excluded legates, &c. ; ib.
5. And neglected the Pope's Bulls &c. ; . . . .214
6. And seized upon Papal pretended rights ; . . .215
7. And have imposed oaths of allegiance. . . . 216
8. The Germans against pardons, indulgences, &c. . . ib.
9. Emperors have deposed Popes, and appealed from them, &c. . 217
[Two answers of German Bishops ;
1. Of the German and French to Anastasius the Second. . 218
2. Of the Archbishops of Cologne and Triers with the Synod
of Cologne to Nicolas the First] . . .219
II. The French no vassals of the Roman Court. . . ib.
[The case of Hincmar. . . . . . . ib.
1. The kings of France have convented the Popes before them ; . 220
2 have appealed from Popes to Councils ; . ib.
3 have protested against the Pope's decrees; 221
4 have made laws to repress the insolencies
and exorbitances of the Papal Court.] . . . ib.
The liberties of the French Church. .... 225
III. The king of Spain asserts the liberties of his own Churches. . 228
[In Sicily. . . . . . . .229
This power challenged by him in Sicily by the Bull of Urban
the Second. . . . . . . . ib.
1. Authority of the Pope to make such a Bull . . 230
2. Similar Bull of Nicholas the Second to the kings of England ib.
3. The self- same power assumed by the king of Spain
in his other dominions. . . . . ib.
The case of Urban the Eighth and Philip the
Fourth. . . . . . ib.
Complaints of the Estates of Castile. . .231
Other instances of the same kind. . . 235
The reception in Brabant and Flanders of Urban the Eighth's Bull
against Jansenius.] .... • 236
IV. The king of Portugal doth the same [as the king of Spain. . 237
Answers of the University of Lisbon to certain questions
moved to them by the States of Portugal. . . . 239
V. The Republic of Venice.'} . . ... 240
Venetian laws. . . . . . . . ib.
The Bull of Pope [Paul the Fifth]. . ib.
Slighted by the Venetians. . . . . .241
Venetian doctrines. ...... 242
1. [These privileges not possessed by the Venetians by grant of
the Popes. . ..... 243
CONTENTS.
2. Difference between Venice and England in their
several departures from Roman obedience. . 244
3. Difference between Venice and England in their
several departures from Roman doctrine. . ib.
The chiefest difference between our case and that of Venice.] . 245
The conclusion of the Venetian troubles. ib.
CHAP. VIII.
That the Pope and Court of Rome are many ways guilty of
schism, and the true cause of the dissensions of Christendom. 246
The Church, but principally the Court, of Rome is four ways guilty of
schism, ••••.... ib.
I. [The Church of Rome seeks to usurp a higher place in the
body ecclesiastical than is due unto her. . . . 247
II. The Court of Rome hath separated three parts of the Christian
world from its communion, and as far as in it lies from the
communion of Christ. ... ib.
By its doctrines ; . ib.
By its censures. ... ib.
III. The Bishops of Rome have rebelled against general Councils. 248
Decrees of the Councils of Constance and Basle, < That
the Pope is subject to a general Council.' . . 250
Objected to as unconfirmed by the Pope because not
conciliarly made.] ... ib.
1. The Pope's confirmation of Councils of no
value. . . . ib.
2. The decree of the Council's superiority above
the Pope most conciliarly made. . .251
[The decree not to be understood only of dubious Popes. 252
IV. The Popes have broken or taken away all the lines of Aposto
lical succession except their own. . . ib
The name of Universal Bishop taken in three senses : . 253
1. As implying universality of care. . . . ib.
2. As implying universality, not only of care, but of
jurisdiction. .... ib.
3. Exclusively, for < the only Bishop of the world.' . 254
V. Two other novelties challenged by the Popes : . . . ib.
1. Infallibility of judgment. ... ib.
2. A temporal power over princes either directly or indirectly.] , 255
CONTENTS. 93
CHAP. IX.
Page
An answer to the objections of the Romanists. . . .256
I. We have not separated ourselves from the Catholic Church. . . 257
II. [We are not contumacious towards the Council of Trent.] . . ib.
The Council of Trent not general ; . . . .258
Nor free ; . ..... ib.
Nor lawful. . . . . .259
III. We have not substracted our obedience from our lawful Patriarch. . ib.
[1. The British islands were not, nor ought to be, subject
to the jurisdiction of the Roman Patriarch. . ib.
2. Patriarchal power is not of Divine right, and therefore
may either be quitted or forfeited or transferred. . 260
a. The Roman Bishops quitted their Patriarchate. . ib.
0. An& forfeited it ; . . . .261
By rebellion ; . . . . . ib.
And by abuse. ..... 262
7. [Their] Patriarchal power was lawfully transferred. 264
3. The power which we rejected was not Patriarchal nor
canonical. . . . . . . ib.
IV. Gregory the Great acquired no Patriarchal right in England by the
conversion of it. . . . . . . . 266
[Consideration 1. . . . . . . . ib.
2 ib.
3. . .... 267
4. . ..... 268
5. . . ib.
V. Minor objections.] . . . . . . .269
1. We condemn not our fathers. . . . . ib.
2. Our Bishops not ordained by Presbyters. . . . 270
3. Our matter and form in Presbyterial ordination justified. . 271
4. We derive no jurisdiction from the crown. . . . 272
Bishops not subject to nor ordained by Presbyters of old in
Britain. ....... 273
[Instances from Bede mistaken. . . . ib.
First mistake. ..... 274
Second . . . . . ib.
Third ... . ib.
Fourth . . . . . ib.
Fifth ] . . .275
Unformed Churches no fit precedent. . . . . ib.
CHAP. X.
The conclusion of the treatise. . . . . .276
[Of the Answer to La Milletiere. . . . . ib
Hard condition of the English exiles. . . . . ib.
Recapitulation. . . . . . .277
How far the Protestant and Roman Churches are reconcileable.] 278
DISCOURSE II.
A JUST VINDICATION
OF THE
CHURCH OF ENGLAND
[FIRST PRINTED AT LONDON, A. D. 1654.]
CHAP. I.
THE SCOPE AND SUM OF THIS TREATISE.
NOTHING hath been hitherto or can hereafter be objected Nothing
to the Church of England, which, to strangers unacquainted ™a°bTy ob-~
with the state of our affairs, or to such of our natives as have {^Church
only looked upon the case superficially, hath more colour of of England
truth, at first sight, than that of schism; that we have withdrawn schism.
our obedience from the vicar of Christ, or, at least, from our
lawful Patriarch, and separated ourselves from the communion
of the Catholic Church : — a grievous accusation, I confess, if it
were true ; for we acknowledge that there is no salvation to
be expected ordinarily without the pale of the Church.
But, when all things are judiciously weighed in the balance But no-
of right reason ; when it shall appear that we never had any S
such foreign Patriarch for the first six hundred years and
upwards, and that it was a gross violation of the canons of
the Catholic Church, to attempt after that time to obtrude
any foreign jurisdiction upon us ; that, before the Bishops of
Rome ever exercised any jurisdiction in Britain, they had
quitted their lawful Patriarchate, wherewith they were
invested by the authority of the Church, for an unlawful
monarchy pretended to belong unto them by the institution
of Christ ; that whatsoever the Popes of Rome gained upon
us in after ages, without our own free consent, was mere
tyranny and usurpation ; that our Kings with their Synods
96 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART and Parliaments had power to revoke, retract, and abrogate,
'• whatsoever they found by experience to become burdensome
and insupportable to their subjects ; that they did use in all
ages, with the consent of the Church and Kingdom of Eng
land, to limit and restrain the exercise of Papal power, and
to provide remedies against the daily encroachments of the
Roman Court, so as Henry the Eighth, at the Reformation of
the English Church, did but tread in the steps of his most
renowned ancestors, who nourished whilst Popery was in its
zenith, and pursued but that way which they had chalked
out unto him, a way warranted by the practice of the most
Christian emperors of old, and frequented at this day by 54
the greatest, or rather by all the princes of the Roman com
munion, so often as they find occasion; when it shall be
made evident, that the Bishops of Rome never enjoyed any
quiet or settled possession of that power which was after
deservedly cast out of England, so as to beget a lawful pre
scription ; and, lastly, that we have not at all separated our
selves from the communion of the Catholic Church, nor of
any part thereof, Roman or other, qua tales — as they are
such, but only in their innovations, wherein they have sepa
rated themselves first from their common Mother and from
the fellowship of their own Sisters : I say, when all this shall
be cleared, and the schism is brought home and laid at the
right door, then we may safely conclude, that by how much
we should turn more Roman than we are (whilst things con
tinue in the same condition), by so much we should render
ourselves less Catholic, and plunge ourselves deeper into
schism whilst we seek to avoid it.
The me- For the clearer and fuller discussion and demonstration
served in whereof, I shall observe this method in the ensuing Discourse.
course!8" •"-• First a, to state the question ; and shew, what is schism
in the abstract, who are schismatics in the concrete, and what
we understand by the Church of England in this question.
II. Secondly, I will lay down six grounds or propositions,
every one of which singly is sufficient to wipe away the stain
and guilt of schism from the Church of England ; how much
more when they are all joined together ? My six grounds or
a [Chap, ii.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 97
propositions are these. First b, that Protestants were not the DISCOURSE
authors of the late great separation from Rome, but Roman -
Catholics themselves, such as in all other points were chief
advocates and pillars of the Roman Church, and so many,
that the names of all the known dissenters might be written
in a little ring. Secondly c, that, in abandoning the Court of
Rome, they did not make any new law, but only declare and
restore the old law of the land to its former vigour, and vindi
cate that liberty left them as an inheritance by their an
cestors, from the encroachments and usurpations of the Court
of Rome. Thirdly d, that the ancient British, and Scottish or
Irish, Churches were ever exempted from the patriarchal juris
diction of the RomanBishops, until Rome, thirsting after an uni
versal unlawful monarchy, quitted their [her?] lawful eccle
siastical power ; and so ought to continue free and exempted
from all foreign jurisdiction of any pretended Patriarch for
evermore, according to the famous canon of the general
Council of Ephesus, which Gregory the Great reverenced as
one of the four Gospels6. Fourthly1, that though the authors
of that separation had not themselves been Roman Catholics ;
and though the acts or statutes made for that end had not
been merely declarative, but also operative; and although
Britain had not been from the beginning, both dejure and de
facto, exempted from Roman jurisdiction ; yet the King and
Church of England had both sufficient authority, and suffi
cient grounds, to withdraw their obedience as they did.
Fifthly s, that all the sovereign princes and republics in
Europe of the Roman communion, whensoever they have
occasion to reduce the Pope to reason, do either practise, or
plead for, the same right, or both. Sixthly11, that the Papacy
itself (qua tails), as it is now maintained by many, with uni
versality of jurisdiction, or rather sole jurisdiction, jure Divino,
with superiority above general Councils, with infallibility of
judgment, and temporal power over princes, is become by its
rigid censures, and new Creeds, and exorbitant decrees, in a
great part actually, and altogether causally, guilty both of
this and all the greater schisms in Christendom.
- iii-]
, iv.]
Chap,
Chap, v.]
Greg. M. Epist., lib. i. Ep. 25 ; lib.
BRAMHALL.
^.lO.Op. torn. ii. pp.515. B.632.E.]
"Chap, vi.]
;Chap. vii.]
Chap, viii.]
98 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART III. Lastly1, 1 will give a satisfactory answer to those objec-
?: tions, which those of the Roman communion do bring against
us to prove us schismatics.
CHAP. II. 55
THE STATING OF THE QUESTION : — WHAT IS SCHISM ; WHO ARE SCHIS
MATICS ; AND WHAT IS SIGNIFIED BY THE CHUECH OF ENGLAND IN THIS
QUESTION.
Every pas- EVERY sudden passionate heat or misunderstanding or
shaking of charity amongst Christians, though it were even
between the principal pastors of the Church, is not presently
[Acts xv. schism. As that between St. Paul and Barnabas in the Acts
39 1
of the Apostles, — who dare say that either of them were
schismatics ? or that between St. Hierome and Ruffmus, who
charged one another mutually with heresy3 ; or that between
St. Chrysostom and Epiphanius, who refused to join in
prayers; St. Chrysostom wishing that Epiphanius might
never return home alive, and Epiphanius wishing that
St. Chrysostom might not die a Bishop k ; both which things,
by the just disposition of Almighty God, fell out according to
the passionate and uncharitable desires of these holy persons;
who had Christian charity still radicated in their hearts,
though the violent torrent of sudden passion did for the time
bear down all other respects before it. These were but per
sonal heats, which reflected not upon the public body of the
Church ; to which they were all ever ready to submit, and in
which none of them did ever attempt to make a party by
gathering disciples to himself. Such a passionate heat is
Acts xv. aptly styled by the Holy Ghost " Trapoguo-fjios" — "a paroxysm,"
[" Conten- or a sharp fit of a feverish distemper, which a little time without
Vers. ]Eng' anv °ther application will infallibly remedy.
Ecciesiasti- Secondly, every premeditated clashing of Bishops or
onong"618 Churches, about points of doctrine or discipline, long and
continu
ance not i [Chap, ix.] St. Augustiu's Ixxiiird. Epistle, Ad
always j £Not to mention St. Jerome's three Hieron., § 6 — 8. torn. ii. pp. 165, 166.]
sm< books of "Apology" against Ruffinus' k [Socrates (Hist. Eccles., lib. vi. c.
two books of "Invectives" (Op. S. 14.) mentions the story, but rather
Hieron. torn. iv. P. ii. pp. 350, sq.), see doiibtfully.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 99
resolutely maintained, is not presently criminous schism ; so DISCOURSE
long as they forbear to censure and condemn one another
and to expel one another from their communion, and are
ready to submit to the determinations of a general Council.
Such were the contentions of the Roman and African Bishops
about rebaptization and appeals ]. It were hard to say, that
those two blessed Saints, Cyprian and Austin, and all those
pious prelates who joined with them, lived and died schis
matics.
With this general truth agrees that of Doctor Holdenm
fully, that ' when there is a mutual division of two parts or
members of the mystical Body of the Church, one from the
other, yet both retain communion with the universal Church
(which for the most part springs from some doubtful opinion,
or less necessary part of Divine worship), quamcunque partem
amplexus fueris, schismaticus non audies, quippe quod universa
Ecclesia neutram damndrit — whatsoever part one take, he is
no schismatic, because the universal Church hath condemned
neither part/ Whether he hold himself to this principle, or
desert it, it is not my purpose here to discuss.
But this is much sounder doctrine than that of Mr. Knott",
that c the parts of the Church cannot be divided one from
another except they be divided from the whole, because those
things, which are united to one third, are united also between
themselves :' which error he would seem to have sucked
from Doctor Potter °, whom he either would not or at least
did not understand ; — that " whosoever professeth himself to
forsake the communion of any one member of the Body of
Christ, must confess himself consequently to forsake the
whole :" of which he makes this use; — that Protestants forsake
the communion of the Church of Rome ; and yet do confess
it to be a member of the Body of Christ ; therefore they for-
1 [Concerning the rebaptization of m Hen. Holden, Append, [ad Lib.
heretics, between St. Cyprian, with the De Resolut. Fidei,] De Schism., Art. 1.
African Bishops, and Stephen, A. D. pp. 483, 484. [Paris. 1652.]
255,256; — concerning appeals to Rome, n "Infidelity Unmasked," [c. 7.]
between St. Augustin, with the African sect. 176. p. 591. [Gant. 1652.]
Bishops, and the Popes Zosimus, Boni- ° Idem, [c. 7. sect. 84.] p. 516;
face I., and Celestine I., A.D. 418 — 422, [from Dr. Potter's Answer to " Charity
npon the question of restoring the Mistaken" (a former work by Knott),
priest Apiarius : Flemy, Hist. Eccles., sect. 3. p. 76.]
liv. vii. and xxiv.]
H2
100
A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART sake the communion of the whole Church. The answer is
easy, — that whosoever doth separate himself from any part of
the Catholic Church as it is a part of the Catholic Church,
doth separate himself from every part of the Catholic Church,
and consequently from the universal Church, which hath no
existence but in its parts. But if one part of the universal
Church do separate itself from another part, not absolutely,
or in essentials, but respectively, in abuses and innovations ;
not as it is a part of the universal Church, but only so far as
it is corrupted and degenerated ; it doth still retain a com
munion, not only with the Catholic Church and with all 56
orthodox members of the Catholic Church, but even with that
corrupted Church from which it is separated, except only in
corruptions. We may well enlarge the former ground : — that
if two particular Churches shall separate themselves one from
another ; and the one retain a communion with the universal
Church, and be ready to submit to the determinations thereof;
and the other renounce the communion of the universal
Church, and contumaciously despise the jurisdiction and the
decrees thereof; the former continues Catholic, and the latter
becomes schismatical. To shew that this is our present con
dition with the Church of Rome, is in part the scope of this
treatise. They have subjected (Ecumenical Councils, which
are the sovereign tribunals of the Church, to the jurisdiction
of the Papal Court. And we are most ready in all our differ
ences to stand to the judgment of the truly Catholic Church,
and its lawful representative a free general Council. But we
are not willing to have their ' virtual Church/ that is, the Court
of Rome, obtruded upon us for the Catholic Church, nor a
partial synod of Italians for a free general Council.
The sepa- Thirdly, there may be an actual and criminous separation
}fe°freeTldy of Churches which formerly did join in one and the same
schism and communion ; and yet the separators be innocent, and the
t art°ther Persons fr°m whom the separation is made be nocent and
guilty. guilty of schism, because they gave just cause of separation
from them. It is not the separation, but the cause, that makes
Acts xix.9. the schism. St. Paul himself made such a separation among
i Tim. vi. his disciples : and Timothy is expressly commanded, that "if
any man did teach otherwise, and consented not to whole
some words, even to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 101
to the doctrine which is according to godliness, a^lo-raao CLTTO DISCOURSE
ra)i> TOLOVTCOV — withdraw thyself— stand aloof — or separate
thyself, from such persons." It is true, that they who first
desert and forsake the communion of their Christian brethren,
are schismatics ; but there is a moral defection as well as [a]
local ; it is no schism to forsake them, who have first them
selves forsaken the common Faith : wherein we have the
confession of our adversaries ; — " They who first separated
themselves from the primitive pure Church and brought in
corruptions in Faith, practice, Liturgy, and use of Sacra
ments, may truly be said to have been heretics, by departing
from the pure Faith ; and schismatics, by dividing themselves
from the external communion of the true uncorrupted
Church P." It is no schism to separate from heretics and
schismatics in their heresy and schism. This is all the crime
which they can object to us. The Court of Rome would have.
obtruded upon us new articles of Faith ; we have rejected
them : they introduced unlawful rites into the Liturgies of
the Church and use of the Sacraments ; we have reformed
them for ourselves : they went about to violate the just
liberties and privileges of our Church ; we have vindicated
them. And for so doing they have by their censures and
Bulls separated us and chased us from their communion.
Where lies the schism ?
Fourthly, to withdraw obedience from a particular Church, TO with-
or from a lawful superior, is not always criminous schism. "
s
Particular Churches may sometimes err, and sometimes 110.f Always
criminous
clash with the universal Church. Patriarchs and other schism.
subordinate superiors may err, and sometimes abuse their
authority, sometimes forfeit their authority, sometimes dis
claim their authority, or usurp more authority than is due unto
them by the canons. They would persuade us, that ' obedience
is to be yielded to a Church determining errors in points not
fundamental*1/ But they confound obedience of acquiescence
with obedience of conformity. They forget willingly that we
acknowledge not that they ever had any lawful authority
over us : ' par in par em non habet potestatem' — ' equals have
no jurisdiction over their equals.' The only difficulty is, that
i> Infidelity Unmasked, ch. 7. sect. q Id. [ch. 7. sect 41.1 p. 482.
112. p. 534.
102
A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART
I.
this seems to make inferiors judges of their superiors, the
flock of their pastor, the clergy of their Bishop, the Bishop
of -his Metropolitan, the Metropolitan of his Patriarch ;
whereas in truth it only gives them a 'judgment of discretion1/
and makes them not to be judges of their superiors, but only
to be their own judges ' salvo moderamine inculpatse tutelce,'
to preserve themselves from sin on heresy obtruded upon them
under the specious pretences of obedience and charity. This
is not deficere, but prospicere ; not to renounce due obedience
to their lawful superiors, but to provide for their own safety.
Some things are so evident, that the judgment of the 57
Church or a superior is not needful. Some things have been
already judged and denned by the Church, and need no new
determination. If a superior presume to determine contrary
to the determination of the Church, it is not rebellion, but
loyalty, to disobey him.
When Eunomius the Arian was made Bishop, ' not one of
his flock, rich or poor, young or old, man or woman/ would
communicate with him in the public service of God, but left
him to officiate alone s. When Nestorius did first publish his
heresy in the church in these words, " If any man call the
Virgin Mary the Mother of God, let him be accursed/7 the
people made a noise, ran out of the church, and refused ever
after to communicate with him*. Valentinian the Emperor
shunned the communion of Sixtus the Third u. Many of the
Roman clergy withdrew themselves from the communion of
Anastasius their Bishop, because he had communicated with
the Acacians x. Rusticus and Sebastianus, two of the Pope's
chiefest deacons, did not only themselves forbear the com
munion of Vigilius, but drew with them a good part of the
Church of Rome and other Occidental Churches y.
It cannot be denied, but that among many examples of this
* [See the Answer to La Milletiere,
p. 40. Discourse i. Part i.]
s Theodor. [Hist. Eccles.] lib. iv. c.
15. [Eunomius was made Bp. of Samo-
sata upon the expulsion of the orthodox
Bishop, Eusebius, A. D. 370.]
* Cyril. Epist. ad Coelestinum, Ep. 9.
[p. 37. D. E. torn. v. P. ii. Paris. 1638.
. — The words in question were uttered
aloud in the church during service, not
however by Nestorius himself, but in
his presence by one Dorotheas, a Bishop
who held the same opinions with him.]
» [Processus Sixti III. in Act. Con-
cil. Roman. A.D. 433. cap. 4. ap. Labb.]
Concil. torn. ii. [p. 1267.]
x Lib. Roman. Pontif. in [Vita]
Anastas. [II. A. D. 496.]
y [Baron. Annal. torn. vii. an. 548.
550.] — Libell. Maurit. [Imperatoris ad
Gregor. I. Papam.] ap. Baron. Annal.
torn. viii. an. 590. num. 28.
THE CHUKCH OF ENGLAND. 103
kind some are reprehensible, not because they did arrogate to DISCOURSE
themselves a liberty which they had not, but because they —
abused that liberty which they had, either by mistaking the
matter of fact, or by presuming too much upon their own
judgments. To prevent which inconveniencies, the eighth
Synod decreed, not by way of censure but of caution, as a
preservative from such abuses for the future, that " no clerk,
before diligent examination and synodical sentence, should
separate himself from the communion of his proper Bishop, no
Bishop of his Metropolitan, no Metropolitan of his Patriarch2."
Then what is schism ? Schism signifies a criminous What is
scissure, rent, or division in the Church, an ecclesiastical mere6]
sedition, like to a mutiny in an army or a faction in a state. schlstn-
Therefore such ruptures are called by the Apostle indifferently 1 Cor. i. 10.
or S^ocrracr/afc, schisms, or seditious segregations
of an aggregate body into two opposite parties. And there
seems to me to be the same difference between heresy, pro
perly so called, and schism, which is between an inward sick
ness and an outward wound or ulcer. Heresy floweth from
the corruption of Faith within; schism is an exterior breach, or
a solution of continuity, in the body ecclesiastic. Consider
then by what nerves and ligaments the body of the Church is
united and knit together, and by so many manner of ruptures
it may be schismatically rent or divided asunder.
The communion of the Christian Catholic Church is partly
internal, partly external.
The internal communion consists principally in these Wherein
things : to believe the same entire substance of saving neces- commu-
sary truth revealed by the Apostles, and to be ready implicitly
in the preparation of the mind to embrace all other super
natural verities when they shall be sufficiently proposed to
them ; to judge charitably one of another ; to exclude none
from the Catholic communion and hope of salvation, either
eastern, or western, or southern, or northern Christians,
which profess the ancient Faith of the Apostles and primitive
Fathers, established in the first general Councils, and com
prehended in the Apostolic, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds ;
to rejoice at their well doing ; to sorrow for their sins ; to
z Synod. [CEcnmenic.] viii. [sell. [in titulo ; ap. Labb. Concil. torn. viii.
Coastantinop. iv. A. D. 870.] can. 10. p. 1132.]
104
A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART
I.
[1 Pet. ii.
25.]
Wherein
external
commu
nion doth
consist.
[Internal
commu
nion may
not,] exter
nal com
munion
may, be
suspended;
and with
drawn.
condole with them in their sufferings ; to pray for their con-
- stant perseverance in the true Christian Faith, for their
reduction from all their respective errors, and their re -union
to the Church in case they be divided from it, that we may
be all one sheepfold under that One Great "Shepherd and
Bishop of our souls •" and, lastly, to hold an actual external
communion with them 'in votis' — in our desires, and to
endeavour it by all those means which are in our power.
This internal communion is of absolute necessity among all
Catholics.
External communion consists, first, in the same Creeds
or Symbols or Confessions of Faith, which are the ancient
badges or cognizances of Christianity ; secondly, in the parti
cipation of the same Sacraments ; thirdly, in the same ex
ternal worship, and frequent use of the same Divine Offices or
Liturgies or forms of serving God ; fourthly, in the use of the 53
same public rites and ceremonies ; fifthly, in giving commu
nicatory letters from one Church or one person to another ;
and, lastly, in admission of the same discipline, and subjection
to the same supreme ecclesiastical authority, that is, Episco
pacy, or a general Council : for as single Bishops are the
Heads of particular Churches, so Episcopacy, that is, a general
Council, or (Ecumenical assembly of Bishops, is the Head of
the universal Church a.
Internal communion is due always from all Christians to
all Christians, even to those with whom we cannot communi
cate externally in many things, whether credenda or agenda —
opinions or practices. But external actual communion ma}^
sometimes be suspended more or less by the just censures of
the Church, ' clave non err ante.' As in the primitive times
some were excluded ' a ccetu participantium' — only from the use
of the Sacraments; others moreover 'a ccetu procumbentium' —
both from Sacraments and Prayers; others also ' a ccetu audien-
tium' — from Sacraments, Prayers, and Sermons ; and, lastly,
some ' a ccetu fidelium'— from the society of Christians b. And as
external communion may be suspended, so likewise it may
sometimes be waved or withdrawn by particular Churches or
persons from their neighbour Churches or Christians in their
« [Compare Bingham's Orig. Eccles.,
bk. xvi. c. l.J
b [Compare Bingham's Orig. Eccles.,
bk. xvi. c. 2. § 7 ; bk. xviii. c. 1.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 105
innovations and errors : especially when they go about to
obtrude new fancies upon others for fundamental truths and — — ! —
old articles of Faith. Christian charity is not blind, so as not
to distinguish the integral and essential parts of the body
from superfluous wens and excrescences. The canons do not
oblige Christians to the arbitrary dictates of a Patriarch, or to
suck in all his errors ; like those servile flatterers of Dionysius
the Sicilian tyrant, who licked up his very spittle and pro
tested it was more sweet than nectar0.
Neither is there the like degree of obligation to an exact There is
communion in all externals. There is not so great conformity necessity of
to be expected in ceremonies, as in the essentials of Sacra- c
ments (the ' Queen's Daughter was arrayed in a garment externals.
wrought about with divers colours') ; nor in all Sacraments [PS. xiv.io.
improperly and largely so called by some persons at some bookVers.]
times, as in Baptism and the Holy Eucharist, which by the
consent of all parties are more general, more necessary, more
principal Sacraments. Neither is so exact an harmony and
agreement necessary in all the explications of articles of
Faith, as in the articles themselves ; nor in superstructions,
as in fundamentals ; nor in scholastical opinions, as in cate
chetical grounds : nor so strict and perpetual an adherence
required to a particular Church, as to the universal Church ;
nor to an ecclesiastical constitution, as to a Divine ordinance,
or Apostolical tradition. Human -privileges may be lost by
disuse, or by abuse ; and that which was advisedly established
by human authority, may by the same authority upon suffi
cient grounds and mature deliberation be more advisedly
abrogated. As the limits and distinctions of provinces and
Patriarchates were at first introduced to comply with the
civil government, according to the distribution of the pro
vinces of the Roman Empire, for the preservation of peace
and unity, and for the ease and benefit of Christians, so
they have been often, and may now be, changed by sove
reign and synodical authority, according to the change of
the Empire, for the peace and benefit of Christendom.
Neither the rules of prudence nor the laws of piety do Christian
oblige particular Churches or Christians to communicate in ^i^lm-
all opinions and practices with those particular Churches or Pjj.cts ^
c [Athen., Deipnos., vi. 13.] opinions;
106
A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART
I.
[Matt, xxv
34. 41.]
[but some.
times ad
mits and
even com
mands se
paration.]
Christians with whom they hold Catholic communion. The
Roman and African Churches held good communion one
with another, whilst they differed both in judgment and
practice about rebaptization. Cannot one hold communion
with the Fathers that were Chiliasts, except he turn Millenary?
The British Churches were never judged schismatical, because
they differed from the rest of the West about the observation
of Easter. We see that all the famous and principal
Churches of the Christian world, Grecian, Roman, Protestant,
Armenian, Abissene, have their peculiar differences one with
another, and each of them among themselves. And though
I am far from believing, that, when logomachies are taken
away, their real dissensions are half so numerous, or their
errors half so foul, as they are painted out by their adver
saries (emulation was never equal judge) ; and though I hope 59
Christ will say " Come ye blessed" to many, whom fiery
zealots are ready to turn away with ' ( Go ye cursed ;" yet to
hold communion with them all in all things is neither lawful
nor possible.
Yea, if any particular Patriarch, Prelate, Church, or
Churches, how eminent soever, shall endeavour to obtrude
their own singularities upon others for Catholic verities, or
shall enjoin sinful duties to their subjects, or shall violate the
undoubted privileges of their inferiors contrary to the canons
of the Fathers ; it is very -lawful for their own subjects to dis
obey them, and for strangers to separate from them. And if
either the one or the other have been drawn to partake of
their errors upon pretence of obedience or of Catholic com
munion, they may without the guilt of schism, nay they
ought, to reform themselves, so as it be done by lawful
authority, upon good grounds, with due moderation, without
excess, or the violation of charity ; and so as the separation
from them be not total, but only in their errors and innova
tions ; nor perpetual, but only during their distempers : — as
a man might leave his father's or his brother's house, being
infected with the plague, with a purpose to return thither
again so soon as it was cleansed. This is no more than what
Gerson hath taught us in sundiy places : — ' It is lawful by the
law of nature to resist the injury and violence of a Pope d ;'
d Regulas Morales, tit. De Prsecept. Decalog. [Op. P. ii. fol. 131. Paris. 1521.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 107
and, " if any one should convert his Papal dignity to be an DISCOURSE
instrument of wickedness to the destruction of any part of
the Church in temporalities or spiritualities, and if there
appears no other remedy but by withdrawing oneself from
the obedience of such a raging power, .... until the Church
or a Council shall provide otherwise ; it is lawful e." He adds
farther, that ' it is lawful to slight his sentences/ yea, ' ' to
tear them in pieces, and throw them at his head f."
Bellarmine in effect saith as much; — "As it is lawful to
resist the Pope, if he should invade oar bodies ; so it is lawful
to resist him invading of souls, or troubling the common
wealth ; and much more if he should endeavour to destroy
the Church ; I say it is lawful to resist him by not doing
that which he commands and by hindering him from putting
his will in executions/' We ask no more. The Pope
invaded our souls by exacting new oaths and obtruding new
articles of Faith ; he troubled the commonwealth with his ex
tortions and usurpations; he destroyed the Church by his
provisions, reservations, exemptions, &c. We did not judge
him, or punish him, or depose him, or exercise any jurisdic
tion over him ; but only defended ourselves, by guarding his
blows and repelling his injuries.
I may not here forget St. Ignatius the Patriarch of Con
stantinople, whom Pope John the Eighth excommunicated for
detaining the jurisdiction of Bulgaria from the See of Rome;
but he disobeyed the Pope's censures, as did also his suc
cessors, and yet was reputed a Saint after his death : whom
Baronius excuseth in this manner, — "Neque est ut quis ob
litem hanc, &C." — "let no man think that for this controversy
Ignatius was either disaffected to the Roman See, or un
grateful, seeing he did but defend the rights of his own
Church, to which he was bound by oath under pain of eternal
damnation V If it be not only lawful but necessary (in the
judgment of Baronius), yea, necessary under the pain of dam
nation, for every Bishop to defend the rights of his particular
See against the encroachments and usurpations of the Roman
e Lib. de Auferibilitate Papce, Con- g De Roman. Pontif. lib. ii. c. 29.
sider. 14. [Op. P. i. fol. 35.] [Op. torn. i. p. 820. A.]
* De Unit. Eccles., Consider. 10. h Baron. Annal. torn. x. an. 878.
[Op. P. i. fol. 38 — " Possunt occurrere num. 42.
casus, in quibus . . . liceret, &c."J
108 A JUST VINDICATION OF
Bishop, and to contemn his censures in that case as invalid ;
how much more is it lawful, yea, necessary, for all the Bishops
in the world to maintain the right of their whole Order, and
of Episcopacy itself, against the oppressions of the Court of
Rome, which would swallow up, or rather hath swallowed up,
all original jurisdiction and the whole power of the Keys.
From this doctrine Dr. Holden doth not dissent; " Non
tamen is ego sum, &c." — " yet I am not he who dare affirm,
that diseases and bad manners and humours may not some
times be mingled in any society or body whatsoever ; yea, I
confess that such kinds of faults are sometimes to be plucked
up by the roots, and the over-luxurious branches to be pruned
away with the hook *." It is true, he would not have this
reformation in essential articles k; we offered not to touch
them : nor without the consent of lawful superiors k ; we had
the free and deliberate consent of all our superiors both civil
and ecclesiastical. A little after he adds, " I confess also,
that particular and as it were private abuses, which have only
infected some certain persons ... or Church, whether Epi
scopal or Archiepiscopal or ... national, may be taken away
by the care and diligence of that particular congregation1;"
we attempted no more.
ei We see then wliat mere scllism is ; a culpable rupture or GO
schism. breach of the Catholic communion, a loosing of the band of
peace, a violation of Christian charity, a dissolving of the
unity and continuity of the Church : and how this crime may
be committed inwardly; — by temerarious and uncharitable
psa. ixv. judgment, when a man thinks thus with himself, " Stand
from me, for I am holier than thou ;" by lack of a true
Christian sympathy or fellow-feeling of the wants and suffer
ings of our Christian brethren ; by not wishing and desiring
the peace of Christendom and the reunion of the Catholic
Church ; by not contributing our prayers and endeavours for
the speedy knitting together and consolidating of that broken
bone : and outwardly ; — by rejecting the true badges and
cognizances of Christians, that is, the ancient Creeds ; by
separating a man's self without sufficient ground from other
Christians in the participation of the same Sacraments, or in
1 Append, de Schismat. art. 4. p. 51G. ' [Ibid. pp. 517, 518.1
k [Ibid. p. 517.1
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 109
the use of the same Divine Offices and Liturgies of the DISCOURSE
Church and public worship and service of Almighty God, or '-
of the same common rites and ceremonies ; by refusing to
give communicatory letters to Catholic orthodox Christians ;
by not admitting the same discipline, and by denying or
withdrawing our obedience unlawfully from lawful superiors,
whether it be the Church universal or particular, essential or
representative, or any single superior, either of Divine or
human institution ; by separating of themselves from the
communion of the Catholic Church, as the Novatians, or by
restraining the Catholic Church unto themselves, as the
Donatists of old and the Romanists at this day.
What the Catholic Church signifies, was sufficiently What the
debated between the Catholic Bishops and the schismatical church0
Donatists at the Colloquy of Carthage ; neither the Church signifies*
of Rome in Europe nor the Church of Cartenna in Afric,
with the several Churches of their respective communions,
but the whole Church of Christ spread abroad throughout
the whole world. "Afrorum Christianorum Catholicorum hcec vox
est, &c." — "this is the voice of the African Catholic Christians,
we are joined in communion with the whole Christian world ;
this is the Church which we have chosen to be maintained,
&c.»"
Now, the Catholic Church being totum homogeneum, every Each mem-
particular Church and every particular person of this Catholic
communion doth participate of the same name inclusively, so Church is
as to be justly called Catholic Churches and Catholic Chris- inclusively.
tians ; but not exclusively, to the prejudice or shutting out of
other Churches or other persons. As the King of Spain styles
himself and is styled by others the Catholic King, not as if
he were an universal monarch, or that there were no other
sovereign princes in the world but himself : so the Church
of Rome is called a Catholic Church, and the Bishop of Rome
a Catholic Bishop ; and yet other Churches and other Bishops
may be as Catholic, and more Catholic than they. I like
the name of Catholic well, but the addition of Roman is in
truth a diminution.
Schism for the most part is changeable, and varies its schism is
change -
m [Gesta] Collat. Carthag., Collat. turn ed. Dupin, Paris. 1702, p. 302.] able-
Tert. [Diei, § 100, in Append, ad Opta-
110
A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART
I.
And for the
most part
compli
cated with
heretical
pravity ;
[and viola
tion of
order.]
Four ways
to become
heretical.
symptoms as the chameleon colours : as it was said of the
schism of the Donatists, that <( the passion of a disordered
woman brought it forth, ambition nourished it, and covetous-
ness confirmed itn." And therefore it is as hard a task to
shape a coat for schismatics, as for the moon, which changeth
its shape every day. The reason is, because, having once
deserted the Catholic communion, they find no beaten path
to walk in, but are like men running down a steep hill, that
cannot stay themselves ; or like sick persons, that toss and
turn themselves continually from one side of their bed to the
other, searching for that repose which they do not find.
Hence it comes to pass, that schism is very rarely found for
any long space of time without some mixture of heretical
pravity, it being the use of schismatics to broach some new
doctrine for the better justification of their separation from
the Church. Heretical errors in point of Faith do easily
produce a schism and separation of Christians one from an
other in the use of the Sacraments, and in the public service
of God : as the Arian heresy produced a different doxology in
the Church ; the orthodox Christian saying, " Glory be to
the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;"
and the heretical Arian, " Glory be to the Father, by the Son,
in the Spirit °" So, of later times, the opinions of the lawful
ness of detaining the Cup from the laity, and of the necessity
of adoring the Sacrament, have by consequence excluded the
Protestants from the participation of the Eucharist in the 61
Roman Church. Thus heresy doth naturally destroy unity
and uniformity ; — that is one symptom of schism.
But it destroys order also, and the due subordination of a
flock to their lawful pastor, nothing being more common with
heretics than to contemn their old guides, and to choose to
themselves new teachers of their own factions, and so ' erect
an altar against an altar' in the Church ; — that is another
principal branch of schism. So a different faith commonly
produceth a different discipline and different forms of worship.
A man may render himself guilty of heretical pravity four
ways. First, by disbelieving any fundamental article of Faith,
" [Optatus, De Schism. Donatist,,
lib. i. c. 19.]
° [Sozom., Hist. Eccles., lib. iii. c.
20 — Philostorg., Hist. Eccles., lib. iii.
c. 13.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. Ill
or necessary part of saving truth,, in that sense' in which it DISCOURSE
was evermore received and believed by the universal Church. -
Secondly, by believing any superstitious errors or additions
which do virtually by necessary and evident consequence
subvert, the Faith and overthrow a fundamental truth.
Thirdly, by maintaining lesser errors obstinately after suffi
cient conviction. But, because that consequence which seems
clear and necessary to one man, may seem weak and obscure
to another ; and because we cannot penetrate into the hearts
of men, to judge whether they be obstinate, or do implicitly
and in the preparation of their minds believe the truth ; it is
good to be sparing and reserved in censuring heretics for
obstinacy. Fourthly, by maintaining lesser errors with fro-
wardness and opposition to lawful determinations. Though
it be not in the power of any Council, or of all the Councils
in the world, to make that truth fundamental which was not
fundamental ; or to make that proposition heretical in itself,
which was not heretical ever from the days of the Apostles ;
or to increase the necessary articles of the Christian Faith
either in number or substance ; yet, when inferior questions
not fundamental are once denned by a lawful general Council,
all Christians, though they cannot assent in their judgments,
are obliged to passive obedience, to possess their souls in
patience. And they, who shall oppose the authority and dis
turb the peace of the Church, deserve to be punished as
heretics.
To sum up all that hath been said ; whosoever doth pre- Who are
serve his obedience entire to the universal Church, and its Ci
representative a general Council, and to all his superiors in
their due order, so far as by law he is obliged ; who holds an
internal communion with all Christians, and an external
communion so far as he can with a good conscience ; who
approves no reformation but that which is made by lawful
authority, upon sufficient grounds, with due moderation ;
who derives his Christianity by the uninterrupted line of
Apostolical succession ; wrho contents himself with his proper
place in the ecclesiastical body ; who disbelieves nothing
contained in Holy Scripture, and if he hold any errors un
wittingly and unwillingly, doth implicitly renounce them by
his fuller and more firm adherence to that infallible rule;
112
A JUST VINDICATION OF
Who are
schisma
tics.
PART who believeth and practiseth all those credenda and agenda,
which the universal Church spread over the face of the earth
doth unanimously believe and practise as necessary to salva
tion, without condemning or censuring others of different
judgment from himself in inferior questions, without obtruding
his own opinions upon others as articles of Faith ; who is im
plicitly prepared to believe and do all other speculative and
practical truths, when they shall be revealed to him ; and, in
sum, ' qui sententiam diverse opinionis vinculo non prceponit
unitatisv' — ' that prefers not a subtlety or an imaginary
truth before the bond of peace ;' he may securely say, " My
name is Christian, my surname is Catholic *."
From hence it appeareth plainly, by the rule of contraries,
who are schismatics ; whosoever doth uncharitably make
ruptures in the mystical Body of Christ, or 'sets up altar
against altar5 in His Church, or withdraws his obedience from
the Catholic Church, or its representative a general Council,
or from any lawful superiors, without just grounds ; whoso
ever doth limit the Catholic Church unto his own sect, ex
cluding all the rest of the Christian world, by new doctrines,
or erroneous censures, or tyrannical impositions ; whosoever
holds not internal communion with all Christians, and ex
ternal also so far as they continue in a Catholic constitution;
whosoever, not contenting himself with his due place in the
Church, doth attempt to usurp an higher place, to the dis
order and disturbance of the whole body ; whosoever takes
upon him to reform without just authority and good grounds; 62
and, lastly, whosoever doth wilfully break the line of Aposto
lical succession, which is the very nerves and sinews of eccle
siastical unity and communion, both with the present Church,
and with the Catholic Symbolical Church of all successive
ages ; he is a schismatic (qua tails), whether he be guilty of
heretical pravity or not.
Now, having seen who are schismatics, for clearing the
the Church state of the question whether the Church of England be
d schismatical or not, it remaineth to shew in a word what we
understand by the Church of England.
What is un-
p August, Cont. Crescon., lib. ii.
[The sentiment occurs in c. 39. (torn. ix.
p. 430. B. C.), but not the words.]
i [Pacian., Ad Sympronian. Nova-
tianum, as quoted in the motto of this
Discourse.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 113
First, we understand not the English nation alone, but the DISCOURSE
English dominion, including the British, and Scottish or JL
Irish, Christians : for Ireland was the right Scotia major ; and
that which is now called Scotland, was then inhabited by
British and Irish under the name of Picts and Scots r.
Secondly, though I make not the least doubt in the world,
but that the Church of England before the Reformation and
the Church of England after the Reformation are as much
the same Church, as a garden, before it is weeded and after
it is weeded, is the same garden ; or a vine, before it be pruned
and after it is pruned and freed from the luxuriant branches,
is one and the same vine : yet, because the Roman Catholics
do not object schism to the Popish Church of England, but
to the reformed Church, therefore, in this question, by the
Church of England we understand that Church, which was
derived by lineal succession from the British, English, and
Scottish Bishops, by mixed ordination, as it was legally
established in the days of King Edward the Sixth, and
nourished in the reigns of Queen Elizabeth, King James, and
King Charles of blessed memory, and now groans under the
heavy yoke of persecution ; whether this Church be schis-
matical by reason of its secession and separation from the
Church of Rome, and the supposed withdrawing of its obedi
ence from the Patriarchal jurisdiction of the Roman Bishop.
As for other aspersions of schism, of lesser moment, we shall
meet with them in our answers to their objections.
CHAP. III.
THAT THE SEPARATION FROM ROME WAS NOT MADE BY PROTESTANTS, BUT
BY ROMAN CATHOLICS THEMSELVES.
THIS being the state of the question, I proceed to examine Roman
the first ground or proposition : that the English Protestants
were not the first authors of the separation, but principal
Roman Catholics, great advocates in their days and pillars of Rome.
the Roman Church. Whether the Act or statute of separa
tion were operative or declarative, creating new right, or
manifesting or restoring old right ; whether the power of the
r [See Usher, De Primord. Britann. Eccles., cc. xv. xvi.]
BRAMHALL. I
114
A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART Roman Court in England was just or usurped, absolute and
- immutable, or conditional and changeable ; whether the
possession thereof was certain and settled, or controverted
and unquiet ; (though no man thoroughly versed in our laws
and histories can reasonably doubt of these things ;) this is
undeniably true, that the secession and substraction of obedi
ence was not made by our Reformers or by any of their
friends or favourers, but by their capital enemies and perse
cutors, by zealots of the Roman religion.
And this was not done secretly in a corner, but openly in
the sight of the sun ; disputed publicly and determined
beforehand in both our Universities, which after long de
liberation and much disputation, done with all diligence, zeal,
and conscience, made this final resolution and profession :
" Tandem in hanc sententiam unanimiter [pmnes] convenimus ac
Concordes fuimus, videlicet Romanum Episcopum majorem ali-
quam juris dictionem non habere sibi a Deo collatam in Sacra
Scripturd in hoc regno Anylice, quam alium quemvis eocternum
Episcopum" — " That the Roman Bishop had no greater
jurisdiction within the kingdom of England conferred upon
him by God in Holy Scripture, than any other foreign
Bishop8." After this the same was voted and decreed in
our national Synods *; and lastly, after all this, received and 6.3
established in full Parliament, by the free consent of all the
Orders of the kingdom, with the concurrence and approba
tion of four-and-twenty Bishops and nine-and- twenty Abbots,
then and there present11. To pass by many other statutes, take
8 [See Foxe,] Acts and Monum.,
£bk. viiL an. 1534. vol. ii. p. 281, for a
translation, and Wilkins, Concil., ,tom.
iii, pp. 771, 772, for the original Latin,
of the decree of the Univ. of Cambridge.]
— Regist. Epist. Univ. Oxon. [inter MS S.
Bodl.] Ep. 210, [for the letter of Henry
VIII. and the Acts of the Convocation
of the Univ. of Oxford upon the subject ;
and Wilkins, Concil., pp. 77 5, 776, forthe
decree of that University (see Wood's
Antiq. of the Univ. of Oxf., bk. i. in an.
1534). Bramhair s quotation is from the
last, with the word between brackets
omitted.]
* Sac. Syn. [Prov. Cant. etEbor.] an.
1530 et 1532 [et lustrum, super Sub-
miss. Cleri, an. 1 532; wherein the regal
supremacy was yielded. — Syn. Prov.
Cant, et Ebor. an. 1534, wherein the
Papal supremacy was rejected — ap.
Wilk., Concil., torn. iii. pp. 724. 744,
&c., 754, 755. 769. 782. See Collier,
Ch. Hist., Pt. ii. bk. i. vol. ii. pp. 62,
&c. bk. ii. p. 94.]
u [These numbers seem to have been
intended, the one as the total number of
Bishops (there were really at that time
and up to 1540 only twenty-one; Coke
upon Littleton, 94. a.), the other as that
of Abbots and Priors (Coke upon Lit
tleton, 97. a. — Collier, Ch. Hist., Pt. ii.
bk, ii. vol. ii. p. 164.), who were Lords
of Parliament at the time ; but the
largest numbers of either class, men
tioned by our Church historians as actu
ally present at the passing of any of the
Acts upon the subject, are only seven
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 115
the very words of one of the main Acts itself : ' That England DISCOURSE
is an empire/ and that f the King,, as Head of the body politic — —
consisting of the spiritualty and temporalty, hath plenary
power to render final justice for all matters, &c.x;> First,,
England "is," that is, originally, not shall be by virtue of this
Act. What is it ? " an empire" If it be an empire, then
the sovereigns thereof have the same privileges and preroga
tives within their own dominions, which the old emperors
had in theirs. If the King be ' Head of the body politic con
sisting of the spiritualty and temporalty ;' then in England
the King is the political Head of the clergy as well as of the
laity. So he ought to be, and not he only, but all the
sovereign princes throughout the world, by the very law of
nature.
What becomes now of that grand exception against Romanists
Protestants, for making their King the Head or sovereign [h^Khig
governor (for these two are convertible terms) of the English nladolthe
Church or clergy ? A title first introduced by Roman Church.
Catholics, and since waved and laid aside by Protestants, not
so much for any malignity that was in it, as for the ill sound's
sake ; because it seemed to intrench too much upon the just
right of our Saviour, and, being subject to be misunderstood,
gave offence to many well-affected Christians y. And what
doth this law say more than a great Cardinal said not long
after ? one that was as near the Papacy as any that ever
missed it, and was thought to merit the Papacy as well as any
that had it in his days ; I mean Cardinal Pole in his book
De Concilia2: — "Hoc munus imperatoribus Christi fidemprofessis
Deus Ipse Pater assignavit, ut Christi Filii Dei vicarias paries
gerant " — " God the Father hath assigned this office to Chris
tian emperors, that they should act the part of Christ the
Son of God" (in general Councils) ; and yet more fully in his
answer to the next question a, " Pontifex Romanus ut caput
sacerdotale vicarias Christi veri Capitis paries gerit, . . . at
Casar ut caput regale" &c. — " the Pope as a priestly Head
doth execute the Office of Christ the true Head, but we may
of the former and twelve of the latter y [Seethe Answer toLa Millet. p. 29.]
(Journ. of the H. of Lords, quoted by z Respons. ad Quaest. 74. [p. 527.
Collier, as above, p. 82).] Lovan. 1567.]
x 24 Hen. VIII. c. 12. [" For the * Respons. ad Quaest. 75. [ibid.]
Restraint of Appeals," § 1.]
i 2
116
A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART also truly say, that the emperor doth execute the Office of
nviatt Christ as a kingly Head ;" and so he concludeth, " Christ
xxviii. is.] said of Himself, all power is given Me both in Heaven and
earth ; in utrdque ergo potestate, &c. — therefore we cannot
doubt but Christ hath His deputies for both these powers ;"
the Pope in the Church, the emperor in the commonwealth.
Thus writes the Pope's own legate to his brother legates in
the Tridentine Council, when he desired to favour his master
as much as he could.
But I proceed to our statute. The King of England ( hath'
that is, already in present by the fundamental constitution of
the monarchy, not shall have from henceforth; "plenary power "
without the license, or help, or concurrence of any foreign
prelate or potentate ; "plenary" not solitary ; 'to Tender final
justice,' that is, to receive the last appeals of his own subjects
without fear of any review from Rome, or at Rome ; 'for all
matters/ ecclesiastical and temporal, ecclesiastical by his
Bishops, temporal by his judges. There is a great difference
between a king's administering justice in ecclesiastical causes
by himself, and by his Bishops. Listen to the canon of the
Milevitan Council1' : "It hath pleased the Synod, that what"
(Bishop) et soever shall request of the emperor the cognizance
of public judgment" (in some cases), "he be deprived of his
honour; but if he petition to the emperor for Episcopal
judgment" (that is, to make Bishops his deputies or commis
sioners to hear it), "it should not prejudice him." They
forbid a Bishop of his own accord, in those days, and in some
cases, to make his first address for justice to a secular magis
trate : but they do not forbid him to appear before a secular
magistrate being cited ; and they allow him in all cases,
though of pure ecclesiastical cognizance, to seek to a sove
reign prince for an equal indifferent hearing by Bishops
delegated and authorized by him.
The testimony of this statute is so clear and authentic in
itself, that it need not be corroborated with any other Acts of
I. the same kind. Yet three things are urged against it. First,
that Henry the Eighth at this time was a favourer of the
II. Protestants. Secondly, that he cared not for religion, but
b Concil. Milevitan. Secund. [A. D.
410.] Can. 19. [ap. Labb. Concil. torn.
ii. p. 1542.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 117
64 looked only to the satisfaction of his own humours and lusts. DISCOURSE
Thirdly, that to withhold due obedience is as schismatical as -
to withdraw it ; and that the reformed Church of England
may be innocent of the one, and yet guilty and accessary to
the other.
I. To the first exception I reply, That Henry the Eighth was Henry vin.
so far, both then and long after, from being a friend or the Pro-
favourer of the Protestants, that he was a most bitter perse- testants-
cutor of them ; — (after this the Pope himself, though he was
not well pleased to lose so sweet a morsel as England was, so
well approved of Henry the Eighth's rigorous proceedings
against the Protestants, that he proposed him to the emperor
as a pattern for his imitation0 ;) — insomuch as some strangers
in those days, coming into England, have admired to see
one suffer for denying the Pope's supremacy, and another for
being a Protestant, at the same time ; so, though they looked
divers ways, yet, like Samson's foxes, each had his firebrand [Judg. xv.
at his tail.
But, to clear this point home, there needs no more but to
view the order of the statutes made concerning religion and
ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the reign of that king.
The Act for no person to be cited out of his own diocese,
except in certain cases d ; the Act prohibiting all appeals
out of England to the Court of Rome6 ; the Act for the sub
mission of the clergy to the Kingf ; the Act for payment of
First-fruits to the Crown g; an Act for exoneration from
all exactions of the Court of Home11 ; the Act declaring the
King to be supreme Head of the Church of England1 ; an
Act against Popish Bulls, faculties, and dispensations k ; and
the Act for utterly extinguishing the usurped authority of the
Roman Bishop1 ; — were all, or the most of them, enacted
before the eight-and-twentieth year of Henry the Eighth.
And if my notes fail me not (for we are chased from our
books), they were all received and established in Ireland the
c [A.D. 1539.] Hist. Concil. Trident. Fruits, with the yearly Pensions to the
lib. i. [p. 69. Lond. 1620.] King," is 26 Henry VIII. c. 3.]
d 23 Henry VIII. [c. 9.] h 25 Henry VIII. [c. 21. " concerning
e 24 Henry VIII. [c. 12.] Peter pence and Dispensations."]
f 25 Henry VIII. [c. 19.] ' 26 Hen. VIII. [c. 1.]
g 25 Henry VIII. [c. 20. " For the k 28 Hen. VIII. [c. 16.]
non-payment of First Fruits to the Bp. l 28 Hen. VIII. [c. 10.]
of Home." The Act "for the First
118
A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART
I.
The Au
thor's opi
nion of mo
nasteries
[and of the
suppres
sion of
them by
Henry
VIII. 1;
very same year, the Lord Gray being then Lord Deputy of
Ireland™. All this while there were no thoughts of any
reformation ; all this while the Protestants found little grace
from King Henry ; nor indeed throughout his whole reign,
ordinarily.
As for the suppression of monasteries in his time, I
shall deal clearly, and declare what I conceive to be the
judgment of moderate English Protestants concerning that
act.
First, we fear that covetousness had a great oar in the boat,
and that sundry of the principal actors had a greater aim at
the goods of the Church, than at the good of the Church : or
otherwise, why did they not (as they pretended and gave out)
preserve the spoils of the cloisters for public and charitable
uses, as the foundation of hospitals, and freeing the common
wealth from a great part of its necessary charges ? why did
they not restore the appropriated (or, as we call them truly,
impropri&tedi) tithes to the incumbents and lawful owners,
who had actual cure of souls, from whom they had been un
justly withheld11 ? especially considering that in some parishes
the poor vicar's stipend was not sufficient to maintain a good
ploughman. The monks pretended that they had able
members to discharge the cure of souls, and what difference
whether the incumbent were a single person or an aggregated
body; but what mere laymen could pretend is beyond my
understanding.
Secondly, we examine not whether the abuses which were
then brought to light were true or feigned ; but this we be
lieve, that foundations, which were good in their original in
stitution, ought not to be destroyed for accessary abuses, or
for the faults of particular persons. So we should neither
leave a sun in heaven, for that hath been adored by Pagans ;
nor a spark of fire, or any eminent creature, how beneficial
soever, upon earth, for they have all been abused. Therefore
Lycurgus is justly condemned, because out of a hatred to
m [28 Hen. VIII. cc. 5, 6, 8, 13, 19,
26, in Sir Rich. Bolton's Irish Stat,
Dubl. 1621.]
n Supplication of Beggars, [in Foxe,
Acts and Monum., bk. viii. vol. ii. pp.
229, &c., which affirms that more
than a third part of the realm was
then (A. D. 1527) in ecclesiastical
hands.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 119
drunkenness lie cut down all the vines in Sparta, whereas he DISCOURSE
should have brought the fountains of water nearer0.
Thirdly, when the clergy in a kingdom are really (and not
upon the feigned pretences of sacrilegious persons), grown to
that excessive grandeur, that they quite overbalance the laity,
and leave the commonwealth neither sufficient men nor suffi
cient means to maintain itself; it is lawful by prudent laws
C5 to restrain their further growth, as our ancestors and all the
nations of Europe have done by prohibiting new foundations of
Religious houses and the alienation of lands to the Church
without special license ; as we shall see hereafterp. And if
the excess be so exorbitant, that it is absolutely and evi
dently destructive to the constitution of the commonwealth,
it is lawful (upon some conditions and cautions not necessary
to be here inserted) to prune the superfluous branches, and
to reduce them to a right temper and equilibrium, for the
preservation and well-being of the whole body politic. It
hath been always held lawful in some cases to alienate some
things, that had formerly been given to the Church ; as for
the redemption of Christian captives, for the sustenance of
poor Christians, who are ( living temples/ in the days of [iPet.ii.5.]
famine, and for preservation of the Church itself from demo
lition^. But eradication, to pluck up good institutions root
and branch, is not reformation, which we profess, but de
struction.
To conclude this digression. So as monasteries were
moderated in their number, and in their revenues ; so as the
monks were restrained from meddling between the pastor and
his flock, that is, the bark and the tree, as it was of old, —
c monacJius in oppido piscis in arido' — fa monk in a great
town was thought like a fish upon dry land r •' so as the
abler sort, who are not taken up with higher studies or
weightier employments, were inured to bestow their spare
hours from their devotions in some profitable labour for the
public good, that idleness might be stripped of the cloak of
0 [Plutarch, De Poet. Audiend., Op. Eccles., bk. v. c. 6. § 6.]
Moral, torn. i. p. 40. ed. Wyttenb. r [In allusion to a saying of S. An-
The story relates to the Thracian, not tony reported by S* Athanasius in Vit&
the Spartan, Lycurgus.] Anton., c. 85., Op. torn. i. P. ii. p. 859.
p [c. iv. pp. 141, &c._] B. ed. Bened.]
1 [See authorities in Bingham, Orig.
120
A JUST VINDICATION OP
PART
I.
Henry VIII.
no friend to
Protest,
ants.
Much less
those who
joined with
him in the
separation
from Rome.
contemplative devotion ; so as the vow of perpetual celibate
were reduced to the form of our English Universities,, so long
a fellow so long unmarried, or of the Canonesses and Biggins8
on the other side the seas, which are no longer restrained
from wedlock than they retain their places or habits ; so as
their blind obedience were more enlightened, and secured by
some certain rules and bounds ; so as their mock poverty
(for what is it else to profess want and swim in abundance ?)
were changed into a competent maintenance ; and, lastly, so
as all opinion of satisfaction and supererogation were removed;
I do not see why monasteries might not agree well enough
with reformed devotion.
So then, Henry the Eighth at the time of his secession
from Rome, and long after, even so long as he lived, was
neither friend nor favourer of the ensuing reformation, nor
ordinarily of Protestants in their persons. As may yet more
manifestly appear by that cruel statute of the Six Articles *,
which he made after all this, in the one-and- thirtieth year of
his reign, as a trap to catch the lives of the poor Protestants :
a law both ' writ in blood' and executed in blood.
But suppose that Henry the Eighth had been a friend to
Protestants, what shall we say to all the Orders of the king
dom ? What shall we say to the Synods, to the Universities,
to the four-and-twenty Bishops, and nine-and-twenty Abbots,
who consented to this Act? were all these schismatics?
Were Heath, Bonner, Tonstall, Gardiner, Stokesley, Thurleby,
&c. all schismatics ? If they were, then schismatics were the
greatest opposers of the Reformation, the greatest enemies of
the Protestants, and the greatest pillars and upholders of the
Roman religion. These were they that granted the supremacy
to King Henry the Eighth, — Archbishop Warham told him
it was his right to have it before the Pope ; these were they
that preached up the supremacy of the King at St. Paul's
Cross, and defended his supremacy in printed books ; these
consented to the Acts of Parliament for his supremacy and
the extinguishing of the power of the Roman Bishop in Eng
land ; these were they who helped to make the oath of supre
macy, and took it themselves11; and all others of any note
s [i. e. Beguines.]
1 31 Hen. VIII. [c. 14.]
" [See authority for these statements
in Foxe,] Acts and Monum., an. 1534,
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 121
throughout England, except only Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, DISCOURSE
and Sir Thomas More, who were in prison, before it was en '
acted, for opposing the King's marriage x and the succession
of his children to the crown after it was ordained in Parlia
ment. And wise men have thought that the former had
taken it, if he had not been retarded by the expectation of a
Cardinal's hat, which was come as far as Calais y.
Or rather what shall we say to the whole body of the England
kingdom, if we may believe the testimony of Stephen Gar-
diner Bishop of Winchester, a learned person of very near °^ fehe
relation to King Henry, and in all other things a great
zealot of the Roman Catholic party, in his book " Of True
66 Obedience/' published with a preface to it made by Bishop
Bonner z. Thus he, — "No foreign Bishop hath authority
among us ;". . ." all sorts of people are agreed with us upon
this point with most stedfast consent, that no manner of
person, bred or brought up in England, hath ought to do with
Rome ;" a full confession of an able adversary, to which I see
not what can be excepted, unless it be said of him, as it was
of ^Eneas Sylvius a, ( Stephanus probavit, Wintoniensis negavit3
• — ' Doctor Gardiner approved it, but the Bishop of Winchester
retracted it.' Admit it were so, as it was indeed, what is
1538. [bk. viii.] vol. ii. pp. 278, &c. — Maurice Cliawney, a Carthusian monk.
Concion. Tonstall [ibid. pp. 284, &c.] See Wood's A then. Oxon. by Bliss,
et Longlands [ibid. pp. 326, &c. — and vol. i. pp. 459, 460. It is quoted by
for the saying here attributed to Abp. King James, as in next note.]
Warham, Strype's Cranmer, bk. i. c. 4; y Apolog. Jac. Regis pro Juram.
but the truth of the anecdote seems in- Fidel, [p. 108. Lond. 1609.]
consistent both with the public conduct z "De Vera Obedientia," [first publ.
of that Archbishop in the management in 1534-1535 in London, and again
of the Synod of 1530, that granted the at Hamburgh with Bonner's Preface in
regal supremacy (Antiquit. Britann. 1536 (Tanner's Biblioth. Britannico-
Eccles., p. 325. Hanov. 1605, — Col- Hibern., art. Gardiner). The passages
lier, Pt. ii. bk. i. vol. ii. p. 62.), and here quoted are in pp. 812. 817. of the
with his private protest after that Synod reprint of it (with Bonner's Preface) in
(Wilkins, Concil., torn. iii. p. 746). Brown's Appendix to Gratius, Fascicul.
Foxe also only states generally (p. 326), Rer. Expetend. et Fugiend., Lond.
that "there was appointed every Sunday 1690. Gardiner is said (see the Biogr.
a Bishop to preach at Paul's Cross Brit., art. Gardiner, note B.) to have
against the supremacy of the Bishop of been the illegitimate son of a Dr. Wood-
Rome." The sermons of Tonstall, Bp. vill, Bp. of Salisbury, who was brother
of Durham, and Longlands, Bp. of to Elizabeth, queen of Edw. IV. and
Lincoln, were both preached before the grandmother of Henry VIII.]
King, the first in 1534, the second in a [" Ne, quse fuerunt JEnese, dican-
1538.] tur Pii ;" are the words of ^Eneas Syl-
x " Hist, aliquot nostri Sseculi Mar- vius himself in his "Bulla Retractatio-
tyrum," [sect, concern. Sir Thomas num," prefixed to his works, Basil.
More, fol. 7, a.] edit. an. 1550 [by 1571.]
122 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART that to the stedfast unanimous consent of the whole king-
— dom ? which appears not only from hence, but from TonstalFs
Epistle to Cardinal Pole, and Bekenshaw's Commentary
"Of the Sovereign and Absolute Power of Kings/' as likewise
"Of the Difference between Kingly and Ecclesiastical Power b,"
and, lastly and principally, by a book set forth by the
English Convocation, called " The Institution of a Christian
And ire- manc." And to shew yet further, that Ireland was unani
mous herein with England, we find in the three-and-thirtieth
year of Henry the Eighth, which was before all thoughts of
reformation, not the Irish only, as the O Neals, O Reillys,
O Birnes, O Carrols, &c., but also the English families, as the
Desmonds, Barries, Roches, Bourkes, whose posterities do
still continue zealous Romanists, did make their submissions
by indenture to Sir Anthony Sellenger, then chief governor
of that kingdom, wherein they ' acknowledged King Henry
to be their sovereign lord, and confessed the King's supre
macy in all causes, and utterly renounced the jurisdiction of
the PopeV So the Bishop of Winchester might well sav,
that there was an universal and stedfast consent in the
separation from Rome6.
The pre- H. The second exception weighs so little, that it scarce de-
critoesof servetn an answer. Admitting, but not granting, that any
Henryvm. Or all the calumnies of that party against Henry the Eighth
no blemish *
to the Re- were true, whereof divers by their impossibility and by the
contradiction of their authors do carry their own condem-
b Cited by King James in his " Tri- Archdeacons '(Bonner included, then
plici Nodo Triplex Cuneus, [sive Apol. Archdeacon of Leicester), and by seven-
pro Juram. Fidel.," p. 107.] printed an. teen of the other clergy.]
1609. [Tonstall's Epistle is in Foxe, d Council Book of Ireland; 32, 33,
Acts and Monum., bk. viii. vol. ii. pp. 34, of Hen. VIII.
289, &c., and dates in 1534. Beken- e [That the renunciation of the Papal
shaw (or Bekinsau) published his tract supremacy was universal or nearly so,
" De Supremo et Absolute Ilegis Im- see Wharton's Observations on Strype's
perio" in 1546; and that " De Vera Cranmer, p. 25, 1. 40, quoted by Collier,
Differentia Ilegise et Ecclesiastics Po- Ch. Hist., Pt. ii.bk. ii. vol. ii. p. 94, and
testatis " (by Fox, Bp. of Hereford, but the declarations themselves of the clergy
one of those commonly called the King's in Rymer's Foedera, vol. xiv. pp. 487-
books) was first published in 1534: see 527. It was about an earlier and en-
Wood's A then. Oxon. by Bliss, vol. i. tirely distinct question, viz. the granting
pp. 307, 308; and Tanner's Biblioth. of the regal supremacy (see Collier, as
Britannic. Hibern., art. Edw. Fox.] above, bk. i. pp. 62, &c.), that the diffi-
c [Published in 1 537, and commonly culties and divisions arose. Bramhall
called the Bishops' Book. See the sect. has weakened his argument unneces-
' On the Sacram. of Orders,' fol. 44, b. sarily by not clearly distinguishing the
&c. The preface is signed by twenty- two.]
one, i. e. by all the Bishops, by eight
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 123
nation written in their foreheads ; and although Henry the DISCOURSE
Eighth had been our reformer,, as he was not ; yet all this -
would signify nothing as to this present question. God doth [2 Kings x,
often good works by ill agents. Jehu's 'heart was not up- [2* Sam.
right towards the Lord/ yet God used him as an instrument
to reform His Church and to punish the worshippers of Baal. |
We have heard of late of an aggregative treason f, not known 18-28.]
before in the world ; but never until now of an aggregative
schism. The addition of twenty sins of another nature cannot
make that to be schism which is not schism in itself. We
are sorry for his sins under a condition, that is5 in case they
were true, which for part of them we have no great reason to
believe ; but we are absolutely without condition glad of our
own liberty. The truth is, God Almighty did serve Himself
of a most unlawful dispensation granted by the Pope to King
Henry the Eighth, to marry his brother's wife, as an occasion
of this great work : — I say unlawful, because it was after
judged unlawful by the Universities of England, France,
Italy, after mature deliberation, and some of them upon oath,
and by above a hundred foreign doctors of principal reputa
tion for learnings. The coals of the King's suspicion were
kindled in Spain, France, and Flanders, no enemies to the
Pope ; and blown by Cardinal Wolsey for sinister ends ; but
it was Cranmer that struck the nail home : and God disposed
all things to His own glory.
III. To their third exception, that to withhold obedience is
schismatical as well as to withdraw it ; I answer first, that
they cannot accuse us as accessaries to schism, until they
have first condemned their own great patrons, champions,
and confessors, for the principal schismatics. Did Roman
Catholics themselves find right and sufficient reason to turn
the Pope out of England at the fore-door in fair daylight, as an
intruder and usurper ; and do they expect that Protestants,
* [Viz. in the case of the Earl of Paris (and the Faculty of Paris), An-
Straiford, in whose fate, it will be re- jou, Bourges, Toulouse, Bologna, and
membered, Bramhall was himself nearly Padua. Their decrees were published
involved.] together in Latin and in English in
E Holinshed, in Hen. VIII. pp. 923, 1532, and may be seen in the former
&c. [Lond.1587.] — Hall, 22 Hen.VIII. language in the Records to Burnet's
[fol. 185, b. &c. Loud. 1550 The Hist, of the Reform., vol. i. bk. ii.
foreign Universities, mentioned by both No. 34.]
chroniclers, were those of Orleans,
124
A JUST VINDICATION OF
Our laws
are not
cruel
against
Roman
Catholics.
PART who never liad any relation to him, should let him in again
J by stealth at the back door ?
"Turpiiis ejicitur, quam non admittitur, hospesV
It is true, Queen Mary afterwards gave him house-room
again in England for a short time. But he raged so ex
tremely, and made such bonfires of poor innocent Christians
in every corner of the kingdom, that it is no marvel if they
desired his room rather than his company.
I have often wondered how any rational man could satisfy
himself so as to make the severity of our laws, or the rigour c,
of our princes, since the Reformation, a motive to his revolt
from our Church. Surely the Inquisition was quite out of
his mind. But I meddle not with foreign affairs : — he might
have considered, that more Protestants suffered death in the
short reign of Queen Mary, men, women, and children, than
Roman Catholics in all the longer reigns of all our princes
since the Reformation put together1 ; the former by fire and
faggot, a cruel lingering torment, ' ut sentirent se mori3 ' —
'that they might feel themselves to die by degrees/ the
other by the gibbet, with some opprobrious circumstances to
render their sufferings more exemplary to others ; the former
merely and immediately for religion, because they would not
be Roman Catholics, without any the least pretext of the
violation of any political law ; the latter not merely and im
mediately for religion, — because they were Roman Catholics, —
for many known Roman Catholics in England have lived and
died in greater plenty and power and reputation in every
h [Ovid.,Trist.,lib. v.Eleg. vi.v. 13.]
1 [The number of those who suffered
death for their religion in Queen Mary's
reign (i. e. within a little more than five
years' space) is said to have been no
less than two hundred and seventy-seven
(see Collier's Ch. Hist., Pt. ii. bk. v.
vol. ii. p. 397); whereas the largest
number, that Bridgwater (Aquapon-
tanus) can reckon, of ' Roman Catholic
martyrs' from 1558 to 1588, a space of
thirty years, is but one hundred and
forty-seven (Concert. Eccles. Cathol. in
Anglia, P. iii. in fin.). That the latter
were put to death for treason, see the
successive testimonies of Lord Bur-
leigh ("Execution of Justice in Eng
land, not for Religion but for Treason,"
printed in 1583 ; to which the third Part
of Bridgwater' s Concertatio, &c. was a
reply), King James ( Apol., &c. as quoted
in note 1, and Declarat. to all Christian
Kings, Princes, and Orders, in fin.), and
Abp. Laud (Speech in the Star-chamber
upon the Condemnation of Bastwick,
Burton, and Prynne, pp. 37, 38. Lond.
; as quoted by Jei
on Nov. 5th, Works, vol. vi.pp." 591, &c. —
1637) ; as quoted by Jer. Taylor, Serm.
and theReplic. to the Bp. ofChalcedon,
c. iv. pp. 181, &c., Discourse iii. Pt. i.]
j [" Ita feri, ut se sentiat mori," was
the injunction of Caligula to the execu
tioners of his victims ; Sueton. in Caio,
c. 30. p. 424. ed. Grsev.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 125
prince's reign since the Reformation, than an English Pro- DISCOURSE
testant could live among the Irish Roman Catholics since -
their insurrection. — (If a subject was taken at Mass itself in
England, which was very rare, it was but a pecuniary mulct :
no stranger was ever questioned about his religion. I may
not here omit King James his affirmation k, that no man in
his reign, or in the reign of his predecessor Queen Elizabeth,
did suffer death for conscience' sake or religion.) — But they
suffered for the violation of civil laws : as either for not ac
knowledging the political supremacy of the King in ecclesi
astical causes over ecclesiastical persons, which is all that we
assert ; which the Roman Catholics themselves in Henry the
Eighth's days did maintain as much or perhaps more than we :
— (we want not the consent of their own schools, or the concur
rent practice of kings and parliaments of their own communion;
as Sancta Clara1 doth confess, — " Valde multi doctores, fyc."
— " Very many doctors do hold, that, for the public benefit of
the commonwealth, princes have jurisdiction in many causes,
otherwise being of ecclesiastical cognizance, by positive Divine
law, and by the law of nature ;" and though himself seem
rather to adhere to others who ascribe unto them merely
a civil power, yet he acknowledgeth, with the stream of
schoolmen, that 'by their sovereign office, by accident and
indirectly, for the defence of the commonwealth and the
preservation of public justice and peace, they have great
power over ecclesiastical persons in ecclesiastical causes in
many cases ;' " as they may command Bishops to dispose
their spiritual affairs to the peace of the commonwealth, they
may remove the froward from their offices/' "they may defend
the oppressed clergy from the unjust oppressions of ecclesi
astical judges, &c. ;" which he confesseth to be as much as
our Article setteth forth : what the practice of other kings
and princes is herein, we shall see more fully when I come
to handle my fifth proposition™ :) — or else for returning into
the kingdom so qualified with forbidden orders, as the laws
of the land do not allow (the state of Venice doth not, the
kingdom of France hath not, abhorred from the like laws) ;
or, lastly, for attempting to seduce some of the King's sub-
k Apolow. [pro Juram. Fidel., pp. ' In Artie. 37. [pp. 409,410.]
16-21.] m [c. vii.]
126 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART jects from the religion established in the land. In all these
cases, besides religion there is something of election ; ' he that
loves danger doth often perish in it/ The truth is this; c a hard
knot must have a heavy mall ;' dangerous and bloody positions
and practices produce severe laws. No kingdom is destitute
of necessary remedies for its own conservation. If all were
of my mind, as I believe many are, I could wish that all
seditious opinions, and over-rigorous statutes, with the
memory of them, were buried together in perpetual oblivion.
I hold him scarce a good Christian that would not cast on
one spade full of earth towards their interment. Pardon this
digression, if it be one : cruelty is a symptom of schism.
Secondly, I answer, that, though the Romanists could be
rators were contented to brand their own friends for the principal schis-
schismat- . . , , , i i i
ics, we are matics, yet they shall never be able to prove us accessaries,
or fasten the same crime upon us, who found the separation
made to our hands ; who never had any thing to do with
Rome ; who never owed them any service but the reciprocal
duty of love ; who never did any act to oblige us to them, or
to disoblige us from them. Indeed it were something, if
they could produce a patent from Heaven of the Pope's
Vicariate General under Christ over all Christians (but that
we know they can never do) ; or but so much as an old canon
of a general Council that did subject us to their jurisdiction •
so as the same were neither lawfully revoked, nor their power 68
forfeited by abuse, nor quitted by themselves. Until then
they may withdraw their charge of schism.
Nay, yet more, though they could justify their pretended
title, yet we, acting nothing, but preserving all things in the
same condition we found them, are not censurable as formal
schismatics, whilst we err invincibly, or but probably, and are
implicitly prepared in our minds to obey all our just superiors,
so far as by law we are bound, whensoever we shall be able
to understand their right.
There have been many schisms in the Roman Church
itself. Sometimes two Popes, sometimes three Popes, at a
time. One kingdom submitted to one, this to another, that
to a third, every one believing him to whom he submitted to
be the right Pope, and every one ready to have submitted
to the right Pope if they had known who he was. Tell me,
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 127
were all those that submitted to Antipopes, presently schis- DISCOURSE
matics ? That were too hard a censure. The Antipopes —
themselves were the schismatics, and the Cardinals that
elected them, and all those who supported them for avaricious,
or ambitious, or uncharitable, ends.
We may apply to this purpose that which St. Austin11 said
concerning heretics ; " Qui sententiam suam, quamvis falsam
atque perversam, nulld pertinaci animositate defendit, pr&sertim
quam non audacid prcesumptionis suae pepererit, sed a seductis et
in errorem lapsis parentibus accepit ; qu&rit autem cautd solici-
tudine veritatem, corrigi paratus cum invenerit ; nequaquam est
inter hcereticos deputandus " — " he that defends not his false
opinion with pertinacious animosity, having not invented it
himself but learned it from his erring parents ; if he inquire
carefully after the truth, and be ready to embrace it, and to
correct his errors when he finds them, he is not to be reputed
a heretic."
If this be true in the case of heresy, it holds much more
strongly in the case of schism, and especially that schism
which is grounded only upon human constitutions. Pie that
disobeys a lawful superior through invincible ignorance, whom
he deserted not himself but found him cast off by his parents,
if he be careful to understand his duty and ready to submit
so far as in justice he is bound, he is not to be reputed a
schismatic. If men might not be saved by a general and im
plicit repentance, they were in a woful condition ; for " who PS. xix. 12.
can tell how oft he offendeth ? cleanse Thou me from my
secret faults." And if by general and implicit repentance,
why not by general and implicit faith ? why not by general
and implicit obedience ? so as they do their uttermost endea
vours to learn their duties, and are ready to conform them
selves when they know them. God looks upon His creatures
with all their prejudices, and expects no more of them than
according to the talents which He hath given them. If I
had books for that purpose, I might have cited many laws
and many authors to prove, that the final separation from
Rome was made long before the reformation of the Church
n August., Epist. 162. [editt. before substituted the singular for the plural
Bened. — 43. ed. Bened., Ad Glorium, number throughout.]
&c., torn. ii. p. 88. F. G. Bramhall has
128 A JUST VINDICATION OF
p A K T Of England. But it is a truth so evident and so undeniable
~ by all those who understand our affairs, that I seem to my
self to have done overmuch in it already.
Protestants I do expect that it should be urged by some, that there
of thesepL was a double separation of the Church of England from Rome :
f?i(J?i?ron? the former from the Court of Rome, the second from the
the Church
[any more Church of Rome ; the former in point of discipline, the latter
the Court] in point of doctrine ; the former made in the days of Henry
of Rome. tne otlier in tlie das of Edward the Sixth : that
if the Protestants were not guilty of the former, yet certainly
they were guilty of the latter.
To this I give two answers. First, that the second sepa
ration in point of doctrine doth not concern this question,
whether the Church of England be schismatical, but another,
whether the Church of England be heretical (or at least he
terodox, for every error doth not presently make a heresy),
which cannot be determined without discussing the particu
lar differences between the Church of Rome and the Church
of England. It is an undeniable principle to which both
parties do yield firm assent, that " they who made the first
separation from the primitive pure Church, and brought in
corruptions in Faith, Liturgy, or use of the Sacraments0,"
are the guilty party; yea though the separation were not
local, but only moral, by introducing errors and innovations
and making no other secession. This is the issue of. our con
troversy. If they have innovated first, then we are innocent
and have done no more than our duties. It is not the sepa
ration, but the cause, that makes a schismatic. Secondly, 1 69
answer, that as Roman Catholics (not Protestants) were the
authors of the separation of England from the Court of
Rome, so the Court of Rome itself (not Protestants) made
the separation of England from the communion of the Church
of Rome, by their unjust and tyrannical censures, excommu
nications, and interdictions, which they thundered out against
the realm for denying their spiritual sovereignty by Divine
right, before any reformation made by Protestants. It was
not Protestants that left the communion of the Church of
Rome, but the Court of Rome that thrust all the English
nation, both Protestants and Roman Catholics together, out
0 Mr. Knott, Infidelity Unmasked, [c. 7. sect. 112.] p. 534.
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 129
of their doors, and chased them away from them,, when Pope DISCOURSE
Paul the Third excommunicated and interdicted England, in — —
the days of Henry the Eighth, before ever any reformation
was attempted by the Protestants P. In that condition the
Protestants found the Church and kingdom of England in
the days of Edward the Sixth. So there was no need of any
new separation from the communion of the Church of Rome ;
the Court of Rome had done that to their hands.
So, to conclude my first proposition ; whatsoever some,
not knowing, or not weighing, the state of our affairs and
the Acts and records of those times, have rashly or ignorantly
pronounced to the contrary, it is evident, that the Protestants
had no hand either in the separation of the English Church
from the Court of Rome, or in their separation from the
Church of Rome; the former being made by professed
Roman Catholics, the latter by the Court of Rome itself;
both before the Reformation following in the days of Edward
the Sixth, both at a time when the poor Protestants suffered
death daily for their conscience upon the six bloody Articles.
CHAP. IV.
THAT THE KING AND KINGDOM OF ENGLAND, IN THE SEPARATION FROM
ROME, DID MAKE NO NEW LAW, BUT VINDICATE THEIR ANCIENT
LIBERTIES.
THE second conclusion upon examination will prove as
evident as the former; that Henry the Eighth, and those
Roman Catholics with him, who made the great separation
from the Court of Rome, did no new thing, but what their
predecessors in all ages had done before them, treading in
the steps of their Christian ancestors.
And, first, it cannot be denied, but that any person or Eminent
society that hath an eminent reputation of learning, or pru- {Jav
dence, or piety, or authority, or power, hath ever had, and
ever will have, a great influence upon his or their neighbours, any juris
without any legal jurisdiction over them or subjection due
from them.
Secondly, it is confessed, that in the primitive times great The dig-
was the dignity and authority of the Apostolical Churches,
P Bulla Pauli III. [A. D. 1538.] ap. Sander., De Schism., lib. i. pp. 131, sq. Churches-
BRAMIIALL, K
130 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART as Rome, Antioch, Ephesus, Hierusalem, Alexandria, which
— ^ were founded by the Apostles themselves; and that those
ancient Christians in all their differences did look upon the
Bishops of those Sees as honourable arbitrators, and faithful
depositaries of the genuine Apostolical traditions, especially
wherein they accorded one with another. Hence is that of
Tertullian *, " Constat omnem doctrinam qua cum illis Ecclesiis
Apostolicis,matricibus, et originalibus, conspirat,&c" — "What
soever doctrine agrees with those Apostolical, original, mother-
Churches, is to be reputed true." And in this sense, and no
other, St. Cyprian, a great admirer and imitator both of the
matter and words of Tertullian, whom he honoured with the
title of ' his Master r/ doth call the Church of Rome a " matrix"
and a "root8." But if the tradition varied, as about the
observation of Easter, between Victor Bishop of Rome and
Polycrates Bishop of Ephesus, the one prescribing from
St. Peter and St. Paul, the other from St. John, the re
spective Churches did conform themselves to their superiors ;
or if they were free (as the Britannic Churches were), to 70
their own judgment or to the example of their neighbour
Churches ; or kept them to the tradition delivered unto them
by their first converters ; as in this very controversy about
Easter, and some baptismal rites, the British and Scottish
Bishops always adhered to the Eastern Church ; — a strong
presumption that thence they received the Faith, and were
not subordinate to the Patriarchal See of Rome. But yet
all this honourable respect proceeded from a free prudential
compliance, without any perpetual or necessary subjection.
Afterwards some Churches lost, some gained, the place and
dignity of Apostolical Churches ; either by custom, so Ephesus
lost it * ; or by the canons of the Fathers, so Constantinople
did get it u ; or lastly by imperial privileges, so Justiniana
and Carthage obtained itx.
q Lib. de Prescript, adv. Hseret. u [Concil. Constantin. (A. D. 381.)
[p. 238. B. Paris. 1634.] Can. 3. (ap. Labb. Concil. torn. ii. p.
r [Hieron., De Vir. Illustr., c. 53, 947.)— Concil. Chalcedon. (A. D. 451.)
ap.Fabric., Bibl. Eccles., pp. 124, 125.] Can. 28. (Ibid. torn. iv. p. 769.)—
s Lib. iv. Epist. 8. [ed. Erasra Concil. Trullan. (A. D. 680.) Can. 36.
Ep. 48. p. 91. ed. Fell., Ad Cornelium. (ibid. torn. vi. p. 1159).]
See also Ep. 45, Ad Cornel., p. 86.] x Novell. 131. cc. 3. et 4. [tit. xiv.
1 [See Bingh., Orig. Eccles., bk. ii. " De Eccles. Titulis," &c. pp. 275, 276.
c. 17. § 10.] Genev. 1626.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 131
Thirdly, it is not to be doubted of, but that after the year DISCOURSE
six hundred, after that Pope Boniface had quitted his Patri- IT'
archal dignity by assuming a more lofty title of universal ma^veHhat
Bishop, the succeeding Popes by the connivance, leave, or th.e ^°Pe
consent, of our Kings, did sometimes more, sometimes less, himself
upon pretence of their universal jurisdiction, by degrees land byg"
thrust in their sickle into the ecclesiastical affairs of England. de£rees-
Whosoever shall ponder duly with what a depth of prudence
the Roman Court hath managed all occasions and occur
rences to the advantage and advancement of that See, and
consequently to the improvement of their own authority;
whosoever shall weigh seriously with what art and cunning
the Papacy (as it now is) was tacked into the Church con
trary to wind and weather, and how their "beginning of
unity " was screwed up to an omnipotence, and universality of
power ; whosoever shall duly consider what advantage they
made to that See, and therein to themselves, by the only
countenancing of Phocas his base and bloody murder y or of
Charles Martel his more glorious and successful revolt z ; —
will not wonder to observe, how they did watch their times,
when we had princes of weak judgments, or necessitous, or
superstitious, or of unjust or litigious titles, to wind them
selves into Britain. Nay, rather he will admire, that they did
not radicate themselves more deeply and more firmly therein ;
which without doubt they had effected, but for their exor
bitant rapines, whilst they thought that like foxes they might
prey most boldly farthest from their own kennel : — " Anglia
vere hortus noster deliciarum, . . . puteus inexhaustus est ; [ef]
ubi mult a abundant, multa de multis extorqueri possunt"—
" That England indeed was his garden of delight, a well that
could not be drawn dry ; and where many things did
abound, out of much, much might be extorted *"
1. But, first, this intrusion was manifest usurpation and No Saxon,
tyranny ; this was the gangrene of the Church, which no B?i«s?f °r
subsequent possession or submission could warrant, no tract madefy
y [Greg. M. Epist., lib. xiii. Ep. of France by the 'authority' of the
Sl.AdPhocam.— Ep. 39. AdLeontiam Popes Zachary I. and Stephen III.
Imperatric. See Gibbon, c. xlvi.] See Gibbon, c. xlix.]
z [It was Pepin, not Charles Martel, a Matt. Paris. [Hist. Angl., in] an.
the son, not the father, in whose favour 1216. p. 705.
Childeric was deposed from the throne
K 2
PART
132 A JUST VINDICATION OF
of time or prescription sufficiently confirm. " Quod ab initio
- fuit invalidum tractu temporis non convalescit" — that which
subSon is not only unjust but invalid in its beginning, can never be
Pophe? made valid by the empty pretence of a following custom or
prescription. Neither do I find in truth that any of the
petite Saxon kings, or their subjects, though some of them
indebted to St. Gregory for their first conversion, and all of
them much weakened by their sevenfold division (for at first
of seven kings there was but only one who was a Christian,
namely the king of Kent ; neither was it any of his progeny
who did afterwards unite the heptarchy into a monarchy),
much less that any of the succeeding kings of England, or
of Great Britain united, did ever make any solemn, formal,
or obliging acknowledgment of their submission to the
Bishop of Rome. But on the contrary, when Austin first
arrived in England, he stayed in the Isle of Thanet, until he
knew the King's pleasure b, and offered not to preach in
Kent, until he had the King's license for him and his
followers to preach throughout his dominions c. So not only
their jurisdiction, but even the exercise of their pastoral
function within that realm, was by the King's leave and au
thority. The donation or resignation of King John, whereby
he went about to make a free kingdom servile and feudatory
to the Pope, did concern the Crown more than the Mitre,
and was soon hissed out of the world to the perpetual shame
and infamy of such mercenary pastors; yet to obtain this
ludibrious act the power of the Keys was abused, and the
kingdom of England stood interdicted by the space of six
years and three months d.
The Pope's The Popes in later times had some power in England, of 71
courtesy, not of duty, but never that omnipotence which they
Toafrtes gaped after. Sometimes they sent their nuncios or legates
into England ; so they did of old into other Patriarchates.
Sometimes they admitted appeals from England to Rome;
so they did of old from Africk. Sometimes they excommu
nicated the English subjects ; so did Pope Victor long since
excommunicate all the Asiatics. But neither Asia nor Africk
for all that did acknowledge the Pope's jurisdiction. On the
Bed. [Hist. Eccles. Angl.] lib. i. c Id. lib. i. c. 26.
. d [See an account of this in c. vi. J
c. 25.
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 133
other side, sometimes their legates were not permitted to DISCOURSE
enter into the realm, or after their arrival thrust out of the —
realm, unless they would give caution by oath for their good
demeanour. Sometimes their Bulls and excommunications
were slighted or damned, and they who procured them
soundly punished for their labours. Sometimes all appeals
to Rome were prohibited under most severe penalties, and
their decrees rejected. All this while our kings and Bishops
called Councils, the one under civil punishments, the other
under ecclesiastical ; made ecclesiastical laws and consti
tutions in their Synods and Parliaments; yea express con
stitutions against the Court of Rome itself, with as much
tartness and vehemency as King Henry the Eighth ; and
with this only difference, that they endeavoured to draw the
people out of the Pope's claws at home, and he thought it
more expedient to throw the Pope over the British sea once
for altogether. The old and lawful Patriarchal power of the
Roman Bishops within their own districts, had been re
nounced long before by themselves. Their new universal
monarchy, erected by themselves, was not capable of pre
scription ; or if it had, yet such a dubious unquiet possession
as the Popes did hold in England at the mercy and discretion
of the right owners, was not sufficient to make a legal pre
scription, or to justify their pretended title, or to render them
1 bonce fidei possessores ' — ' lawful and conscionable possessors/
This is that which I am now to demonstrate in this second
ground.
2. The most famous (I had almost said the only) appellant Wilfrid the
from England to Rome that we read of before the Conquest,
was Wilfrid Archbishop of York; who, notwithstanding l>
that he gained sentence upon sentence at Rome in his
favour, and notwithstanding that the Pope did send express
nuncios into England on purpose to see his sentence exe
cuted, yet he could not obtain his restitution or the benefit
of his sentence for six years, during the reigns of King
Egbert and Alfred his son. Yea, King Alfred told the
Pope's nuncios expressly, that " he honoured them as his
parents for their grave lives and honourable aspects, but he
could not give any assent to their legation ; because it was
against reason, that a person twice condemned by the whole
134 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART Council of the English, should be restored upon the Pope's
- letter6." If they had believed the Pope to be their competent
judge, either as universal monarch, or so much as Patriarch
of Britain, or any more than an honourable arbitrator (which
all the Patriarchs were, even without the bounds of their
proper jurisdictions), how comes it to pass that two kings
successively, and the great Councils of the kingdom, and the
other Archbishop Theodore with all the prime ecclesiastics and
the flower of the English clergy, did so long and so resolutely
oppose so many sentences and messages from Rome, and
condemn him twice, whom the Pope had absolved ? Consider
that Wilfrid was an Archbishop, not an inferior clerk ; and if
an appeal from England to Rome had been proper or lawful
in any case, it had been so in his case. But it was otherwise
determined by those who were most concerned.
Malmesburyf supposeth, either by inspiration, or upon his
own head, that the King and the Archbishop Theodore were
smitten with remorse before their deaths, for the injury done
to Wilfrid and the slighting of the Pope's sentence, letter,
and legates. But the contrary is most apparently true ; for
first, it was not King Alfred alone, but the great Council of
the kingdom also, nor Theodore alone, but the main body of
the clergy, that opposed the Pope's letter, and the restitution
of Wilfrid in that manner as it was decreed at Rome;
secondly, after Alfred and Theodore were both dead, we find
the Pope's sentence and Wilfrid's restitution still opposed by
the surviving Bishops, in the reign of Alfred's son.
To clear the matter past contradiction, let us consider the
ground of this long and bitter contention. Wilfrid the Arch
bishop was become a great pluralist, and had engrossed into
his hands too many ecclesiastical dignities. The King and
the Church of England thought fit to deprive him of some of
them, and to confer them upon others. Wilfrid appealed 72
from their sentence unto Rome. The Pope gave sentence
after sentence in favour of Wilfrid. But, for all his sentences,
he was not, he could not be, restored, until he had quitted
e Suelman. Concil. an. 705. ftora. i. ever for his 'supposition' the authority
p 203 ] of Eddius (in Vita Wilfrid., cc. 42. 58.
* [Malmeshury, De Gest. Pontif. pp. 73.86. ap. Galei Hist. Brit. Scriptor.
Anglor. lib. iii. pp. 265. 267. ap. Savil. xv.), quoting the last words of Theodore
Her. Anglic. Scriptor. ; who had how- and the will of Alfred.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 135
two of his monasteries, which were in question, Hengesthill- DISCOURSE
dean, and Ripon, which of all others he loved most dearly, — —
and where he was afterwards interred. This was not a con
quest, but a plain waving of his sentences from Rome and a
yielding of the question ; for those had been the chief causes
of the controversy. So the King and the Church after
Alfred^s death still made good his conclusion, that it was
against reason, that a person twice condemned by the whole
Council of the English, should be restored upon the Pope's
Bull. And as he did not, so neither did they, give any
assent to the Pope's legations.
So unfortunate were appeals to Rome in those days : and [Anselm.]
as unfrequent as unfortunate ; for from that time until
Anselm's days, after the Norman Conquest in the reign
of Henry the First, we do hardly meet with another appeal.
Then Pope Paschal the Second had devised a new oath for
Archbishops, when they received their pall; an oath much
wondered at in all places, as a strange innovation ; — " Signi-
ficdsti reges et regni majores admiratione permotos, fyc" —
" you signified unto me that kings and nobles were moved
with admiration, that the pall was offered unto you by our
ministers, upon condition that you should take an oath which
they brought you written from us, &c.h" This oath was that
which animated Anselm to contest so hotly with the King.
The main controversy was about this very question of appeals
to Rome. The King pleaded the fundamental laws and
customs of the land, — " Consuetude regni mei est a patre meo
instituta, ut nullus prater licentiam Regis appelletur Papa.
Qui consuetudines regni tollit, potestatem quoque et coronam
Regis [1. regni] violat, fyc. {>) — " it is a custom of my kingdom
instituted by my father, that no Pope may be appealed unto
without the King's license. He that taketh away the customs
e [That the treatment of Wilfrid by Wilfrid, not taken from him, by the
the English clergy fully bears out synod of Nidd, as appears from the life
Bramhall's argument, see Collier (Ch. of Wilfrid by Eddius (c. 58. p. 86, as
Hist., Pt. i. bk. ii. vol. i. pp. 117, &c.) ; quoted in note f ).]
but the facts are in one material point h [Decretal., lib. i. tit. vi.] De [Elec-
nnstated by him, from a mistranslation, tione et] Elect! Potest. c. 4. ' Signifi-
asit should seem, of Malmesbury's ex- casti, &c.' — Baron. Annal. an. 1102.
pression, " Dimissis Wilfrido duobus cce- num. 8. [torn, xi.]
nobiis, &c." (p. 268, as quoted in note f). * Malmesb. De Gestis Pontif. Anglor.
The monasteries of Hengesthill-dean lib. i. [p. 219. For "Regis" in the
(Hexham) and Ripon were restored to last clause, read "regni."]
136 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART of the kingdom, doth violence to the power and crown of the
King." It is to be noted, that the laws established by his
father (that was, William the Conqueror) were no other than
the laws of Edward the Confessor, that is to say, the old
Saxon laws ; so he might justly say, both that it was an ancient
immemorial custom of the kingdom, and also that it was in
stituted or established by his father (so Hoveden tells usk,
that at last he yielded to the request of his Barons, &c., that
was, by his authority to confirm the laws of King Edward).
But the best was, that though Anselm the Archbishop was
obliged by oath to the Pope, yet the Bishops were not so
soon brought into the same bondage ; and therefore the
former author tells us1, that (( in his exequendis omnes Episcopi
Anglice Primati suo suffragiwn negdrunt " — " in the execution
of these things, all the Bishops of England did deny their
suffrage to their Primate " So unanimous were they in this
point.
[The sta- Which unanimity of the whole realm, both clergy and
rendon.] *" laity, doth appear yet more evidently by the statute of
Clarendon, made in the reign of the grand-child of this
king, when all the Prelates and Peers of the realm did confirm
the former ancient British English custom, not only by their
consents, but by their oaths m, whereof we shall have occasion
to speak more hereafter. And upon this custom was that law
grounded, which our histories" do make mention of, — " Si
quis inventus fuerit literas vel mandatum ferens Domini Papce,
fyc. capiatur, et de eo, sicut de regis traditore et regni, sine
dilatione fiat justitia ;" — " If any one be found bringing in
the Pope's letter or mandate, let him be apprehended, and
let justice pass upon him without delay as a traitor to the
king and kingdom :" and " generally every man is inter
dicted" (or forbidden) " to appeal to the Pope."
Legations And the legations from Rome were almost as rare as
appeals. appeals to Ilome, during the reigns of all the British and
Saxon kings until the Norman Conquest : as Gregory
Bishop of Ostium the Pope's own legate did confess, that fhe
k Hoveden, in Hen. II. [p. 608. ap. m Matth. Paris, an. 1164. [pp. 100,
Savil, Rer. Anglic. Scrip tor. — speaking 101.]
of William the Conqueror.] n Rog. Hoveden. in Hen. II. [p.
! Malmesb. [as before quoted.] 496.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 137
was the first Roman priest that was sent into those parts of DISCOURSE
Britain, from the time of St. Aiistin0.' And those legates '•
were no others than ordinary messengers or ambassadors,
sent from one neighbour to another. Such a thing as a
legantine court, or a nuncio's court, was not known in the
British world in those ages, and long after. It is not enough
to shew that one Roman Bishop did once send over one or
two doctors to help to propagate or confirm the Faith, or to
lend their helping hands to Religion fainting. This may
well set forth their devotion, and our obligation. But further
as to the present question it signifies just nothing. Favours
cease to be favours, when they are done on purpose to deprive
73 men of their ancient liberties. The British Bishops, and
English also, have done as much for other nations, over
whom they did never challenge any jurisdiction. The French
Church sent over Germanus and Lupus to help to root up
the relics of Pelagianism in Britain?, yet did never pretend
thereby to any authority over the Britons.
Add to this, that, during all the time from St. Gregory to Saxon
the Conquest, it was usual for the British, Saxon, and Danish made ec-
kings, with their clergy or great Council, to make ecclesi-
astical laws, and to regulate the external discipline of the
Church within their dominions : witness the laws of Excom-
bert, Iva, Withred, Alfred, Edward, Athelstan, Edmond,
Edgar, Athelred, Canutus, and Edward the Confessor, among
whose laws one makes it the office of a king ' to govern the
Church as the Vicar of God/ another implies a power in the
king and his judges, to take cognizance of ' wrong done in
ecclesiastical courts V It was to this holy King Edward the
Confessor, that Pope Nicholas the Second, by his Bull for
him and his successors, granted these ensuing privileges to
the kings of England for ever ; namely, " the advocation and
protection of all the churches of England, and power in his
° Spelm. Concil. an. 787. [torn. i. p. q [Leges Eccles. Edw. Reg. et Con-
293.] fessor.] cc. 15. et 5. [ap. Spelm., Con-
P [Bed., Hist. Eccles., lib. i. c. 17; cil., torn. i. (pp. 620-622) ; where may
see also Usher, De Primord. Britann. be found likewise the eccles. laws of the
Eccles., c. xi. pp. 319, &c. They have other Saxon kings above named. Ear-
been claimed however as Papal legates combert (king of Kent in 640) is ap-
on the authority of Prosper' sChronicon., parently intended by E.rcombert, and
but with how little reason may be seen Iva, is a mistake (copied from Foxe) for
in Stillingfleet (Orig. Britann., c. iv. Iwa.1
pp. 192, &c.).]
138 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART stead to make just ecclesiastical constitutions, with the advice
- - of their Bishops and Abbots1." This grant is as full or fuller
than that, which Urban the Second made to Roger Earl of
Sicily, from whence the kings of Spain at this day do not
only challenge, but enjoy, in a manner, all ecclesiastical power
in Sicily8. If the Pope had ever had any such right as he
pretends, this only Bull were sufficient to justify our kings.
But they enjoyed this very power from the beginning, as an
essential floAver of their crowns, without any thanks to the
Pope. ' To make just ecclesiastical constitutions in the
Pope's stead/ saith the Bull. ' To govern the Church as the
Vicar of God/ saith the law of the land.
An oldarti- The Bishops of Rome have ever been very kind in granting
Roman those things which were none of their own, and in making
Bishops, deputations and delegations to them who stood in no need of
their help, being lawfully invested beforehand by another
title in that power and dignity, which the Popes pretended
out of their goodness to confer upon them, but in truth did
it only for the reputation of their See and for maintaining
the opinion of their own grandeur. Whether the deputation
were accepted or not, they did not much trouble themselves.
So they dealt with Hosius, President in the Council of Nice*;
so they dealt with the Patriarch of Justiniana Primau ; so
they served good King Edward, and many others.
Norman This legislative power in ecclesiastical causes over ecclesi-
enjoyed astical persons, the Norman kings after the Conquest did
power™6 a^so exerc^se fr°m time to time, with the advice and consent
of their lords spiritual and temporal. Hence all those
statutes concerning benefices, tithes, advowsons, lands given
in mortmain, prohibitions, consultations, prcemunires, quare
impeditSj privilege of clergy, extortions of ecclesiastical courts
or officers, and regulating their due fees, wages of priests,
mortuaries, sanctuaries, appropriations, and, in sum, all
things which did belong to the external subsistence, regiment,
r Spelm., Concil., an. 1066. [torn. i. u [Pope Vigilius (A. D. 535) "as-
p. 634.] sented to" Justinian's ordinance esta-
8 [See an account of the case of Sicily Wishing his new Patriarchate (Novell.
in c. vii.] 131. tit. 14. c. 3. as above quoted);
1 [Baronius (in an. 325. num. 20.) Gregory the Great sent a pall to the
asserts, that Hosius presided at Nice as Patriarch of it (Greg. M., Epist., lib. ii.
legate of Pope Sylvester. See Cave, Ep. 23. Op. torn. ii. p. 586. B.).]
Hist. Litt, art. Hosius.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.
139
and regulating of the Church ; and this in the reigns of our DISCOURSE
best kings, long and long before the Reformation x. Otho '- —
bone, the Pope's legate under Urban the Fifth, would have
endowed vicars upon appropriated rectories, but could not y.
But our kings by two statutes or Acts of Parliament did
easily effect it z. With us the Pope could not make a spiritual
corporation, but the king. The Pope could not exempt from
the jurisdiction of the Ordinary, but the king, who by his
charter could convert seculars into regulars a. The Pope
could not grant the privilege of the Cistercians and other
Orders, to be free from the payment of tithes ; but the kingb.
The Pope could not appropriate churches, but the king : we
find eight churches appropriated to the Abbey of Crowland by
the Saxon kings, three churches appropriated to the Abbey
of Battell by the Conqueror, and twenty by Henry the First
to the Church of Salisbury0. The king in his great Council
could make void the certificates of Ordinaries in cases of
ecclesiastical cognizance, and command them to absolve those
persons who were judged by his authority to be unjustly excom
municated d. The Pope could not translate an Archbishopric,
or a Bishopric, but the king6. The disposition of ecclesias-
74tical preferments upon lapse, accrued not to the Pope, but
to the king, a plain evidence that he was the lord paramount :
and the king only could incur no lapse — " nullum tempus
occurrit regi ;" because the law supposed that he was busied
about the weighty affairs of the kingdom f. The revenues of
a Bishopric in the vacancy, belonged not unto the Pope, but
to the king ; which he caused to be restored, sometimes
from the time of the first vacancy, sometimes from the time
of the filling of the church with a new incumbent, according
to his good pleasure g.
* [See these laws collected in Gib- ation to an eleventh, Cottenham in.
son's Codex, under the respective Cambridgeshire. The Charter of Hen. I.
heads.] to Salisbury Cathedral is not among
y [Constitut. Othoboni Legati(A. D. those in Dugdale. It is given (from
1248).] " De Appropr. [Eccles. non the Bishop's Records) by Dodsworth
faciendis." tit. 22.] "Quoniam, &c." [p. in his Hist, of Salisb. Cathedr., Pt. ii.
89. Oxon. 1663.] c. 1. p. 102.]
z 15 Rich. II. c. 6.— 4Hen. IV.c.12. d 9 Hen. VI. c. 11 Coke's Re-
* 2 Hen. IV. c. 3. ports, Cawdrey's Case [Pt. v. case 1.
2 Hen. IV. c. 4. from whom many of the above state-
c [See Dugdale' s Monast. Anglic., ments are taken.]
for the two Abbeys. That of Croyland, e [16 Rich. II. c. 5.]
however, enjoyed (not eight but) ten f [17 Edw. II. c. 8.]
advowsons, besides the alternate present- B [17 Edw. II. c. 14.]
140 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART The canons of the Pope could not change the ecclesiastical
- - laws of England, but the king, whose laws they were. He
Law of no had power in his great Council to receive the canons if they
were judged convenient ; or to reject them and abrogate them
land, than jf they were judged inconvenient. When some Bishops pro-
received. posed in Parliament the reception of the ecclesiastical canon
for the legitimation of children born before marriage (without
such a reception the canon was of no force in England) , all
the peers of the realm stood up and cried out with one voice,
' Nolumus leges Anglice mutari' — fwe will not have the laws of
[Canon England to be changed11/ The king and Parliament made a
legislative exposition of the canon of the Council of Lyons
concerning bigamy1, which they would not have done, unless
they had conceived themselves to have power, according to
the fundamental constitutions of the kingdom, either to re
ceive it or reject it. " Ejus est legem interpret ari cujus est
condere ;" — ' he that hath authority to expound a law legisla
tively, hath power to make it/ The king and Parliament
declared Pope Urban to be the right Pope in a time of
schism k, that is, in relation to England, their own kingdom,
not by determining the titles of the Popes, but by applying
the matter to the one and subtracting it from the other. All
these are so many evidences, that, when Popery was at the
highest, the Bishops of Rome had no such absolute ecclesias
tical sovereignty in the Church and realm of England ; and
that what power they exercised at any time more than this,
was by connivance, or permission, or violent usurpation ; and
that our Primates had no foreign superior legally established
over them, but only the king, as he was the supreme Head
of the whole body politic, to see that every one did his duty,
and enjoyed his due right ; who would not suffer one of his
Barons to be excommunicated from Rome, without his privity
and consent1.
No legate de latere was allowed by the law in England, but
the Archbishop of Canterbury1". And if any was admitted
of courtesy, he was to take his oath, to do nothing derogatory
h 20 Hen. III. c. 9. lib. i. p. 6. ed. Selden. See also Selden's
1 4 Edw. I. c. 5. note.]
k 2 Rich. II. c. 7. m [See Twysden's Histor. Vindic.,
1 Eadmer., in initio. [Hist. Novor., c. iii. § 17. 40.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 141
to the King and his Crown11. If any man did denounce the DISCOURSE
Pope's excommunication without the assent of the King, by - —
the law, he forfeited all his goods0. Neither might any man
appeal to Rome without the King's license P. In the year
1420 the Pope translated the Bishop of Lincoln to York ; but
the Dean and Chapter absolutely refused to admit him, and
justified their refusal by the laws of the land ; and by the
favour of the country carried the cause, so as the Pope was
forced to recall him to Lincoln q.
Having mentioned the statutes of Mortmain, I cannot but The statute
do my native country and the Church of England that right,
to clear it from a heavy accusation framed against it upon fled-
mistaken grounds. That the English Protestants had made
a law 'to maintain and patronize sacrilege, that no man (how
penitent soever) could restore any thing to the Church,
which had been formerly taken from itr;' God forbid. First,
the statutes of Mortmain were not made by Protestants,
but in the days of Henry the Third, Edward the First, and
Richard the Second8, between the last of which and Henry
the Eighth there reigned six kings successively. That is
one great mistake. Secondly, the statutes of Mortmain did
not at all concern the restitution of any thing that had been
taken away. There was no use for that in those days. The
only scope of those laws was to restrain the first donation of
lands to the Church without royal assent. That is another
mistake. Thirdly, these very laws of Mortmain are not so
incredible, nor so hard to be believed, nor so altogether
destitute of precedents and examples, as that author doth
imagine, so as ' posterity should scarcely believe that ever
any such law had been made1/ He might have remem
bered the proclamation of Moses, when the people had
already offered abundantly for the adorning of the Sanc-
73tuary : — "Let neither man nor woman make any more work Exod
'"for the offering of the Sanctuary; so the people were re- xxxvi
strained from bringing." He might have called to mind a
like law of Theodosius, a godly emperor, and propitious to
n Placit., an. 1. Hen. VII. r [The Editor cannot ascertain from
0 Placit. [Exercitus Regis], an. 24. what author these words are taken.]
Edw. I._etan. 1. Hen. VII. 8 [viz. 9 Hen. III. Stat. 1. c. 36
Placit., an. 32. Edw. I. 7 Edw. I. Stat. 2 15 Rich. II. c. 5.]
q De Antiquit. Britann. Eccles., t [See note r.]
142 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART the Church, to moderate the people's bounty and the clergy's
— i covetousness : which law St. Ambrose and St. Hierome do
so much complain ofu, not against the Emperor who made
the law, but against the clergy who deserved to have such a
law made against them. He might have found the like law
made by Nicephorus Phocas, and afterwards revived by
Emanuel Comnenusx. He might have remembered, that
the troubles between the Pope and the Venetians did spring
partly from such a law?. Briefly, with a little search he
might have found like laws in Germany, Poland, France,
Spain, Italy, Sicily, and, if he will trust Padre Paolo, in the
Papacy itself2.
The prince cannot wrong his subject, that is an owner or
possessor of lands or hereditaments, in a well-ordered state.
Then why should it be in the power of a subject that is an
owner, to wrong his prince and his country ? But by such
alienations of lands to the Church in an excessive and unpro-
portionable measure, the prince loseth his right, that is, both
his tribute and his military service and fines upon change of
tenants ; the commonwealth loseth its supportation and due
protection. Therefore they were called the laws of Mort
main, because the lands so alienated to the Church were put
into a dead hand, from whence they never returned ; and so
in time the whole signiory should be the Church's ; as it is
elegantly expressed by the Venetian Orator to Paul the
Fifth a; "Nefortunis omnibus exuantur, ne quicquid sub coelo
Veneto homines arant, serunt, czdificant, omnia veluti quodam
oceano Ecclesice absorbeantur, nihilque slbi reliqui fiat unde
rempublicam, patriam, tecta, templa, aras, focos, sepulcra ma-
jorum defenders possint" — "lest the citizens should be turned
out of their estates, lest all which men plough, sow, build,
under the Venetian heaven, should be swallowed up into the
u Ambros., Epist. 31. [ed. Erasm — zant. Hist,]
18. § 13. torn. ii. p. 836. D. E. ed. * [Father Paul's Hist, of the Quar-
Bened.] — Hieron., ad Nepotianum [de rels of Pope Paul V. with the State of
Vita Clericor., Epist. 34. torn. iv. P. ii. Venice, lib. i. pp. 15. 18, &c., EHP-.
pp. 260, 261. The law in question was Transl.]
Valentinian's, but is in the Theodosian z " Considerat. [Cemurar. Paul. V.
Code, lib. xvi. tit. 2., " De Episcop. et Cont. Rempub. Venetam," by Father
Cleric.," num. 20. torn. vi. p. 48. ed. Paul :— in Goldastus, Monarch. S. Rom.
Gothofred.] Imp., torn. iii. p. 295.]
x NiceL [Choniat., Annal.,] lib. vii. a Orat. ad Paul. V. pro Republ. Ve-
[p. 135. A. torn. xvii. of the Corp. By- neta.
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 143
ocean of the Church ; and nothing be left wherewith to defend DISCOURSE
the commonwealth, their country, their houses, their temples,
their altars, their fires, and the sepulchres of their ancestors."
To prevent this great inconvenience, the laws of Mortmain
were devised prudently, to balance the spiritualty and the
temporalty, that the one do not swallow up the other; to
which all wise legislators have ever had, and ought to have, a
special regard.
In France no man can build a new church without the
king's license verified in Parliament. A new monastery
builded in Genoa, without license, is to be confiscated. In
Spain without license royal no new religions can enter into
the kingdom. The Fathers of St. Francis de Paula began
to build a church in Madrid upon their own heads, but they
were stopped b. So equitable, so necessary, hath this law of
Mortmain been thought to all nations.
But to leave this digression and come up closer to the direct [The Con-
.___.__ stitutions
point without any consequences. In the reign of King Henry ofciaren-
the Second, some controversies being likely to arise between d(
the Crown and Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury,
the King called a general assembly of his Archbishops,
Bishops, Abbots, Priors, and Peers of the realm, at Claren
don, where there was made an acknowledgment or memorial
" cujusdam partis consuetudinum et libertatum antecessorum
suorum, Regis videlicet Henrici avi sui, et aliorum, quce observari
debebant in regno et ab omnibus teneri" — " of a certain part
of the customs and liberties of his predecessors, that is to say,
his grandfather Henry the First, son of the Conqueror, and
other kings :" a " part •" but ' ex ungue leonem' from the
view of this part we may conclude of what nature the rest
were ; " of the customs ;" the customs of England are the
Common Law of the land ; " of his predecessors;" that is to
say, the Saxon, Danish, and Norman kings successively;
and therefore no marvel if they " ought to be observed of
all." This part of their ancient customs or liberties they
reduced into sixteen chapters or articles, to which all the
Archbishops, Bishops, and other ecclesiastics, with all the
Peers and Nobles of the realm, did not only give their ac-
b [All these facts are taken from above quoted, p. 290.]
Father Paul's Considerationes, &c., as
144 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART knowledgment and consent but also their oaths for the due
observation of them. It would be tedious and impertinent
to relate them all ; I will only cull out some of them.
One was, that ( all appeals in England must proceed regu
larly from the Archdeacon to the Bishop, from the Bishop 74
to the Archbishop ; and if the Archbishop failed to do justice,
the last complaint must be to the king, to give order for
redress/ that is, by fit delegates : ' but there might be no
further or other appeals without the consent of the king •'
whereby the nunciatures and legantine court and the Court
of Rome itself are all at the king's mercy. Wherein did the
Pope's great strength lie in those days? when his hands
were fast tied both at home and abroad.
Another custom was, that "no ecclesiastical person might
depart out of the kingdom without the king's license" (no,
not though he were summoned by the Bishop of Rome) ;
and if the king permitted them to go, yet, ' if he required it,
they must give caution or security to act nothing hurtful or
prejudicial to the king or kingdom in their going thither,
abiding there, and returning home/ You see our ancestors
were jealous of Rome in those days. Whether it was their
providence or their experience that taught them this lesson,
certainly their prudence to prevent dangers was very com
mendable.
A third custom was, that ' the revenues of all ecclesiastical
dignities belonging to the king's demesne, during the
vacancy, were to be received by the king, as freely as the
rents of his own demesnes.' Tell me, who was then the
patron and political Head of the Church ?
A fourth custom was, that 'when an Archbishopric,
Bishopric, Abbacy, or Priory, did fall void, the election was
to be made by such of the principal dignitaries or members
of that respective Church which was to be filled, as the king
should call together for that purpose, with the king's con
sent, in the king's own chapel. And there the person
elected was to do his homage and fealty to the king, as to
his liege lord.' That later form of " Dei et Apostolicce Sedis
gratia" had taken no root in England in those days.
The rest are of the same nature, as that controversies con
cerning advowsons ought to be determined in the king's
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 145
court ; benefices belonging to the king's patronage could DISCOURSE
not be appropriated without his grant. IT-
When a clergyman was accused of any delinquency, the
king's court ought to determine what part of his accusation
was of civil, and what part of ecclesiastical cognizance. And
the king's Justice might send to the ecclesiastical court to
see it ordered accordingly. None of the king's servants or
tenants that held of him in capite might be excommunicated,
nor their lands interdicted, before the king was made ac
quainted.
When it was questioned whether a tenement was of eccle
siastic or lay fee, the king's Justice was to determine it by
the oaths of twelve men. All ecclesiastical persons who held
any possessions from the king in capite, were to do suit and
service for the same as other barons did, and to join with
the king's barons in the king's judgments, until it came to
sentence of death or diminution of members.
To this memorial all the nobility and clergy of the English
nation did swear firmly, in the word of truth, to keep all the
customs therein contained, and observe them faithfully to the
king and his heirs for ever. Among the rest, Thomas
Becket the Archbishop of Canterbury himself was carried
along with the crowd to take his oath ; though shortly after
he fell from it, and admitted the Pope's absolution0.
By the Statute of Carlisle d, made in the days of Edward the [statute of
First, it was declared, that "the holy Church of England le"]
was founded in the estate of Prelacy, within the realm of
England, by the kings and peers thereof;" and that the
several encroachments of the Bishop of Rome specified in
that Act "did tend to the annullation of the state of the
Church, the disinheriting of the king and the peers, and the
destruction of the laws and rights of the realm, contra for mam
collationis — contrary to the disposition and will of the first
founders." Observe; "in the state of Prelacy," not of
Papacy; "within the realm," not without it ; "bythe#%$,"
not by the Popes; of whose exorbitant and destructive
« [See the whole of this statement referred to as 25 Edw. I on the autho
concerning the Constitutions of Claren- rity of a subsequent statute (viz 25
'
ni arS' ^ > PP- w< ' stat 6" § J)' See esa-
rJ, , r tute ^self and an account of it in Git-
o Edw. I. [c. 4. § 3 ; but usually son's Codex, p. 65, note.]
BRAMIIALL.
146 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART usurpations as our ancestors were most sensible, so they
- wanted neither will nor power to remedy them.
To corroborate this law by former precedents, and thereby
to shew that our kings were ever accounted the right patrons
of the English Church. King Edelwalk made Wilfrid Bishop 75
of the South Saxons, now Chichester6. King Alfred made
Asserio Bishop of Sherbornef, and (Enewulphus Bishop of
Winchester s. Edward the Confessor fmade Robert Arch
bishop, whom before from a mtihk he had made Bishop of
London11/ Thus the Saxon kings in all ages bestowed
Bishoprics without any contradiction. The Norman kings
followed their example. ' No sooner was Stigand dead, but
William the Conqueror elected Lanfranc Abbot of St. Stephen's
in Caen to be Archbishop V William Bufus upon his death
bed elected Anselm to be Archbishop of Canterbury k. And
until the days of Henry the First the Popes never pretended
any right, nor laid any claim, to the patronage of the English
Churches l.
[Articles The Articles of the Clergy m do prescribe, that ' elections be
Clergy.] free, so as the King's conge d'eslire, or license to elect, be
first obtained, and afterwards the election be made good by
[statute of the royal assent and confirmation/ And the Statute of Pro-
visors11; — "Our sovereign lord the king and his heirs shall
have and enjoy for the time the collations to the Archbishop
rics and other dignities elective which be of his advowry, such
as his progenitors had before free election was granted : sith
the first elections were granted by the king's progenitors
upon a certain form and condition, as namely, to demand
« Malmesb., De Gest Pont Anglor. ' [Compare Sir Roger Twysden's
[lib. ii.] p. 257. [Selsey being then the " Histor. Vindication of the Church of
metropolis of the See.] England in point of Schism," ch. iii.
f Id. p. 247. [Malmesb. spells the pp. 53, &c.]
name (as usual) Asserus, and does not m Articuli Cleri [scil. articles of com-
expressly say that he was made Bishop plaint presented to the king in Parlia-
by Alfred. Asserus himself, however, ment by the clergy and redressed by
does say so (in Alfredi Magni Vita, statute. The Act here referred to is
lib. ii. § 53. p. 101. ed. Spelman).] 9 Edw. II.; of which c. 14. de-
g Id. p. 242. [Malmesb. calls the clares that 'elections shall be free'
Bishop Deneulfus.] "juxta formam statutorum et ordina-
h Id. lib. i. p. 204. tionum," that form being determined
5 [Id. p. 205.] to the conditions mentioned in the text
k [Eadmer, Hist. Novor., lib. i. pp. by the charter of King John in 1214
16-18. William Rufus was dangerously (Spelm., Concil., torn. ii. pp. 135, 136.
ill at the time, but this happened two — Gibson's Codex, p. 104).]
years before he was killed.] * n 25 Edw. III. [Stat. 6. § 3.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 147
license of the king to choose, and after choice made to have DISCOURSE
his royal assent : . . . . which condition not being kept, the -
thing ought by reason to return to its first nature." Further,
by the same Statute of Provisors it is declaratively enacted °,
that ' it is the right of the Crown of England, and the law of
the realm, that upon such mischiefs and damages happening
to the realm ' (by the encroachments and oppressions of the
Court of Rome, mentioned in the body of that law), 'the
king ought, and is bound by his oath, with the accord of his
people in Parliament, to make remedy and law for the re
moving of such mischiefs/ We find at least seven or eight
such statutes made in the reigns of several kings against
Papal provisions, reservations, and collations, and the mischiefs
that flowed from thence P.
Let us listen to another law Q ; — " The Crown of England [statute of
hath been so free at all times, that it hath been in no earthly
subjection, but immediately subjected to God in all things
touching its regality, and to no other, and ought not to be
submitted to the Pope." Observe these expressions, " free at
all times," "free in all things," "in no earthly subjection,"
"immediately subjected to God," "not to be submitted to
the Pope :" and all this in ecclesiastical affairs, for of that
nature were all the grievances complained of in that law, as
appears by the view of the statute itself. Then if the kings
of England and the representative body of the English Church
do reform themselves according to the word of God and the
purest patterns of the primitive times, they owe no account
to any as of duty, but to God alone. By the same statute it
is enacted1", that 'they who shall procure or prosecute any
Popish Bulls and excommunications' (in certain cases) 'shall
incur the forfeiture of their estates, or be banished, or put out
of the king's protection/ By other statutes s it is enacted,
that 'whosoever should draw any of the king's subjects out
of the realm' (to Rome) 'in plea about any cause, whereof
the cognizance belongeth to the king's court, or should sue
in any foreign court to defeat any judgment given in the
king's court' (that is, by appealing to Rome), 'they should
0 [Ibid. § 2.] of Praemunire.]
p [See Gibson's Codex, tit. iii. cc. r [Ibid. § 2.]
1, 2. pp. 68, &c.] « 27 Edw. III. c. 1. [§ l.J
16 Rich. II. c. 5. [§ 1.— Statute
L 2
148 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART incur the same penalties/ The body of the kingdom would
- not suffer Edward the First to be cited before the Pope*.
Henry the Sixth, by the counsel of Humphry Duke of
Glocester, the Protector, protested against Pope Martin and
his legate, — that they would not admit him contrary to the
laws and liberties of the realm ; and dissented from whatso
ever he did *.
So we see plainly, that the king and Church of England
ever enjoyed as great or greater liberties than the Gallican
king and Church ; and that King Henry the Eighth did no
more in effect, than his progenitors from time to time had
done before him. Only they laboured to dam up the stream,
and he thought it more expedient to stop up the fountain, of
Papal tyranny ; not by limiting the habitual jurisdiction of
the Roman Bishop, which was not in his power to do, but by
substraeting the matter, and restraining the actual exercise
of it within his own dominions. And it is observable, that in
the greatest heat of these contentions the Prelates of the
realm, being present in Parliament, disavowed the Pope's
encroachments, and offered the king to stand with him * in 76
these and all other cases touching his crown and regality, as
they were bound by their allegiance11 :} that is, according to
the law of feuds, according to their homage done, and
according to the oath which they had taken at their investi
tures into their Bishoprics.
Indeed, of later days, during those bloody wars between
the Houses of York and Lancaster, the Popes sometimes in
vaded this undoubted right of our kings de facto, not dejure,
as was easy for them to do, and tendered to the Bishops at
their investitures another oath of their own making, at first
modest and innocent enough, that they should observe
"regulas Sanctorum Patrum" — "the rules of the Holy
Fathers." But after they altered the oath, and falsified
their Pontifical as well as their faith, changing "regulas
* [Foxe's] Acts and Monum. [Letter with the assent and advice of the Pro
of "the Lords Temporal and the whole tector, &c. against the entry into the
Barony of England to the Pope," in realm and the authority of the Cardinal
their own name, and in that of " the of S. Eusebius, legate of Pope Martin,
whole Commonalty" of the realm, an. A. D. 1428. bk. v. vol. i. pp. 802, 803 ]
Edw. Primi 28. A. D. 1301. bk.iv. vol.i. u [16 Rich. II. c. 5. § 2. num. 5.]
pp. 388. 389 Protest of Henry VI.
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 149
Sanctorum Patrum" into "regalia Sancti Petri" — that they DISCOURSE
should maintain the royalties of St. Peter x: a shameless -
forgery ; and, admitting them to be the interpreters of their
own forms, opening a gap to rob kings of the fairest jewels of
their crowns, and Bishops not only of their jurisdictions but
also of their loyalty and allegiance to their lawful sovereigns ;
unless they take the oath with a protestation, as our Arch
bishop Cranmer did, that ' he would not bind himself to any
thing contrary to the laws of God or the Realm, or the
benefit thereof; nor yet limit himself in the reformation or
government of the Churchy' : before which time two opposite
and repugnant oaths were administered to the Bishops, as
Henry the Eighth made it appear plainly in Parliament z.
Many things in prudence might be done but for fear of
such like alterations and encroachments. Our kings gave
Peterpence to Rome as an alms ; but in process of time it
was exacted as a tribute a. The emperors for more solemnity
chose to be sworn by the Pope at Rome, as the kings of
France at Rheims, and the kings of England at Westminster;
and this was misinterpreted as a doing homage to the Pope.
" Rex venit ante fores jurans prius urbis honores ;
" Post homo Jit Papce, sumit quo dante coronam V
" The King doth come before the gate,.
" First swearing to the city's state ;
" The Pope's man then he doth become,
" And of his gift doth take the crown."
* Pontif. vetus, [compared with the] then taken by the English Bishops
Pontif. Novum. [The same oath is ap- (Collier, Ch. Hist., Pt. ii. bk. i. vol. ii.
pointed by the Pontifical to be twice taken p. 68 — Burn., Hist, of the Reform.,
by the Bishop, once before his Consecra- vol. i. bk. ii. in an. 1532). The
tion, and again at his reception (should it substitution or addition appears to date
be granted him) of the pall; and of this from the time of Paschal II., A. D.
oath two forms exist, differing very con- 1191. See an account of it in Twysden's
siderably both in length and meaning. Histor. Vindic., ch. iii. pp. 46-48, and
The shorter form, which contains only the two oaths compared at length in
the first of the two clauses given in the Barrow, On the Pope's Supremacy, In-
text, occurs in the Decretals (lib. ii. tit. trod. § xiv.]
21. •" De Jurejur.," c. 4.); the longer, y Ex Regist. Cranm., p. 4. fin the
which contains only the last of the two, Append, to Strype's Cranmer, num. v.]
occurs in the Pontificals (e. g. in those * Hall in Hen. VIII. fol. [205. — See
of Clement VIII., Rome 1595, and Collier's Ch. Hist, Pt. ii. bk. i. vol. ii.
Urban VIII., Paris 1664 ; although it p. 68.]
is remarkable that the other form is sub- * [See a circumstantial history of the
stitu ted for it in that of Venice, 1530); payment of Peterpence in Twysden's
and both clauses together are found in Histor. Vindication, ch. iv.pp. 74, &c.]
the oath submitted to Parliament by b [Radevic., De Gest. Frederic! I.
Henry VIII. in 1532 as that which was Imperatoris, lib. i. c. 10.]
150 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PA RT Poets might be bold by authority ; but it rested not there.
' Good authors affirm the challenge in good earnest c. And
Clement the Fifth in one of his canons or decrees d doth con
clude it ; " declaramus juramenta pr&dicta fidelitatis existere
et censeri debere " — " we declare that the aforesaid oaths are
and ought to be esteemed oaths of allegiance."
Lay these particulars together; our kings from time to
our kings time called Councils, made ecclesiastical laws,, punished eccle-
asticai siastical persons and saw that they did their duties in their
eccfesiast? canmgs:» prohibited ecclesiastical judges to proceed, received
cai persons, appeals from ecclesiastical courts, rejected the laws of the
Pope at their pleasure with a "nolumus" — "we will not,
have the laws of England to be changed," or gave legislative
interpretations of them as they thought good, made ecclesias
tical corporations, appropriated benefices, translated Episcopal
Sees, forbade appeals to Rome, rejected the Pope's Bulls,
protested against his legates, questioned both the legates
themselves, and all those who acknowledged them, in the
King's Bench (I may add, and made them pay at once an
hundred and eighteen thousand pounds as a composition for
their estates e), condemned the excommunications and other
sentences of the Roman Court, would not permit a peer, or
baron of the realm, to be excommunicated without their
consents, enjoyed the patronage of Bishoprics and the "inves
titures of Bishops, enlarged or restrained the privilege of
clergy, prescribed the endowment of vicars, set down the
wages of priests, and made Acts to remedy the oppressions of
the Court of Rome.
King What did King Henry the Eighth in effect more than this?
dicTno ' He forbade all suits to the Court of Rome by proclamation,
his'prede" wllich Sanders calls the beginning of the schism f; divers
cessors. statutes did the same. He excluded the Pope's legates ; so
did the law of the land, without the king's special license. 77
He forbade appeals to Rome ; so did his predecessors many
c Occham, [Dialog. De Potestate the Clergy of the province of Canter-
Imperiali et Papali,] P. iii. [Tract, ii. bury, and £18,840 from those of the
lib.i.j c. 22. [who refutes the assertion.] province of York, on the ground of an
d ''De Sent, et Rejudic." [Clemen- alleged Praemunire incurred by their
tin., lib. ii. tit. 9. § 1. " De Jurejurando." consent to "Wolsey's legantine authority.
Bramhall refers by mistake to tit. 8.] Collier, Ch. Hist., Pt. ii. bk. i. vol. ii.
« [But this was Henry the Eighth's p. 61.]
own act ; who extorted £100,000 from f [De Schism., lib, i. p. 74. ed. 1610.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 151
ages before him £. He took away the Pope's dispensations ; DISCOURSE
what did he in that but restore the English Bishops to their — — '—
ancient right, and the laws of the country with the canons of
the Fathers to their vigour ? He challenged and assumed a
political supremacy over ecclesiastical persons in ecclesiastical
causes ; so did Edward the Confessor " govern the Church as
the Vicar of God in his own kingdom ;" so did his predecessors
hold their crowns as ' immediately subjected to God, not sub
jected to the Pope/ On the other side, the Pope by our
English laws could neither reward freely, nor punish freely,
neither whom, nor where, nor when, he thought fit, but by
the consent or connivance of the State. He could neither
do justice in England by his legates without controlmeiit, nor
call Englishmen to Rome without the king's license. Here
is small appearance of a good legal prescription, nor any
pregnant signs of any sovereign power and jurisdiction by
undoubted right and so evident uncontroverted a title as is
pretended.
I might conclude this my second proposition with the tes- The judg-
timoiiies of the greatest lawyers and judges of our land English.0"
(' artists ought to be credited in their own art'); that the law^ers-
laws made by King Henry on this behalf were not oper
ative, but declarative ; not made to create any new law, but
only to vindicate and restore the ancient law of England,
and its ancient jurisdiction to the crown h. There had needed
no restitution, if there had not been some usurpation ; and
who can wonder that the Court of Rome, so potent, so
prudent, so vigilant and intent to their own advantage,
should have made some progress in their long-destined project,
during the reigns of six or seven kings immediately succeed
ing one another, who were all either of doubtful title, or
mere usurpers without any title, such as cared not much for
the flowers of the crown, so they might but hold the diadem
itself from their competitors ?
Therefore our ecclesiastical law was called the king's law,
because the edge and validity of it did proceed from authority
royal ; our ecclesiastical courts were styled the king's courts
B Antiquit. Brit. p. 325. Lord Coke, [Reports,] Cawdrey's case,
h Fitzherb.,Nat.Brev.[fol. 44,45, &c. [Part v. case 1., who also infers tho
ed. of 1598, who states the old law.] — identity of the new.]
152
A JUST VINDICATION OF
ART
I.
by his judges. It is true, the habitual jurisdiction of Bishops
flows from their Ordination ; but the actual exercise thereof
in public courts after a coercive manner,, is from the gracious
concessions of sovereign princes.
In a word, the law being merely intended as a remedy
against usurpation, it cannot be a new law, but only a legis
lative declaration of the old common law of England.
I will conclude this chapter with the words of Bishop
Bilson1;— "As for his Patriarchate, by God's law he hath
none ; in this realm for six hundred years after Christ he
had none; for the last six hundred years, looking after
greater matters, he would have none ; above, or against, the
Prince's sword he can have none ; to the subversion of the
Faith or oppression of his brethren he ought to have none ;
you must seek farther for subjection to his tribunal; this
land oweth him none."
CHAP. V.
THAT THE BRITANNIC CHURCHES WERE EVER EXEMPTED FROM FOREIGN
JURISDICTION FOR THE FIRST SIX HUNDRED YEARS, AND SO OUGHT TO
CONTINUE.
THIRDLY, supposing that the Reformed Church of England
had separated itself from Rome, and supposing that the
municipal laws of the realm then in force had not warranted
such a separation, yet the British Churches, that is, the
Churches of the British islands, England, Scotland, and
Ireland, &c., by the constitution of the Apostles and by
the solemn sentence of the Catholic Church, are exempted
from all foreign jurisdiction, and cannot be schismatical in
the lawful vindication of a just privilege so well founded : 78
for the clearer manifestation whereof let us consider :
The>upre- 1. First ; that all the twelve Apostles were equal in mission
nicicy in the i * • •
whole Col- equal in commission, equal in power, equal in honour, equal
lege of the
Apostles.
j The True Difference [between bellion,] Pt. ii. [p. 321
Christ. Subjection and Unchrist. Re-
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 153
in all things, except priority of order, without which no DISCOURSE
society can well subsist k. '- — •
So much Bellarmine confesseth, that by these words, " As
My Father sent Me, so send I you/' our Saviour endowed
them with all the fulness of power that mortal men were
capable of1. And therefore no single Apostle had jurisdiction
over the rest ('par in par em non habet potestatem'}, but the
whole College of Apostles, to which the supreme managery of
ecclesiastical affairs did belong in common ; whether a new Acts i.
Apostle was to be ordained ; or the office of Deaconship was Acts vi.
to be erected ; or fit persons were to be delegated for the Acts vui.
ordering of the Church, as Peter and John, Judas and Silas ; ar
or informations of great moment were to be heard, as against Acts xi.
Peter himself — (though Peter out of modesty might con
descend, and submit to that to which he was not obliged in
duty, yet it had not become the other Apostles to sit as
judges upon their superior, placed over them by Christ) . Or
whether the weightier questions, of the calling of the Gentiles, Acts xv.
and circumcision, and the law of Moses, were to be deter
mined ; still we find the supremacy in the College.
2. Secondly : that drowsy dream, that the plenitude of The other
ecclesiastical power and jurisdiction was given by Christ to
St. Peter as to " an ordinary pastor," to be derived from him sors as wel1
to his successors, but to the rest of the Apostles as delegates
for term of life, to die with themselves; as it is lately
and boldly asserted"1, without reason, without authority,
either divine or human, so it is most repugnant to the doc
trine of the Fathers, who make all Bishops to be the vicars
and ambassadors of Christ (not of the Pope), and successors of
the Apostles, indifferently, " vie arid ordinations*" "who make
but ' one Episcopacy in the world, whereof every Bishop hath
* Cypr., De Unit. Eccles. [Op. pp. § 32. torn. ii. p. 710. E.]— et alii, [see
107,108.] — Concil. Ephes. [A.D. 431.] the evidence of the Fathers upon the
in Epist. Synod, ad Nestor. [Bramhall suhject in Barrow, On the Pope's Su-
probably refers to the Synodical Epistle prernacy, Answ. toSuppos. I., especially
of the provincial Council of Alexandria, § xviii. ; and Field, Of the Church, bk.
which is attributed by Isidorus Mercator v. cc. 32. 39.]
to the general Council of Ephesus im- l Bellarm., De Pontif. Roman., lib.iv.
mediately subsequent to it, and in which c. [23. Op. torn. i. p. 1015. B.]
the Apostles are mentioned without dis- m [Bellarm., as quoted in last note,
tinction as jointly delivering the Faith lib. i. c. 11. Op. torn. i. p. 647. B.]
to the Churches :— see it in Labb., Con- * [Cypr., Ep. 66., p. 167. — See Bar-
cil., torn. iii. pp. 396. 409.]— Ambros., row, Answ. to Suppos. II., § 9, &c.]
[Lib. de Incarn. Dom. Sacram., c. iv.
154 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART an equal share0.' St. Peter was a pastor, and the pastoral
— office is of perpetual necessity in the Church. True ; but so
were all the rest of the Apostles pastors as well as he. And
if we examine the matter more narrowly, " cui bono " — " for
whose advantage " this distinction was devised ; it was not for
St. Peter's own advantage, who, setting aside his principality
of order, is confessed to have had but an equal share of power
with his fellow Apostles, but for the Pope's advantage, and
the Roman Court's, whom they desire to invest solely with
the key of all original jurisdiction.
Why the And if we trace on this argument a little further, to search
RomePst. out how the Bishop of Rome comes to be St. Peter's heir ' ex
Sssor5 SU°" asse)> to the exclusion of his elder brother the Bishop of An-
ofAntioch" tioc^ tne7 Produce no authority, that I have seen, but a blind
ill-grounded legend out of a counterfeit Hegesippus — of
St. Peter's being about to leave Rome, and Christ's meeting
him upon the way, and admonishing him to return to Rome,
where he must be crucified for His Name P ; which reason
halts on both sides ; the foundation is apocryphal, and the
superstruction is weak and unjointed without any necessary
connection.
The high- 3. Thirdly ; it appeareth not to us, that the Apostles in their
tfon of the days did either set up any universal monarchy in the Church,
e^ctSded or so muc^ dilate the borders or bounds of any one man's
not nation- single jurisdiction, as to subiect so great a part of the Chris-
al Primates. . , , _Tr .
tian world, as the Western Patriarchate, to his obedience.
The highest that they went, if any of those canons which
bear their names be genuine, was to national or provincial
Primates or Patriarchs, — for a Protarch or Primate and a
Patriarch in the language of the ancient Church signified one
and the same thing, • — in whose pre-eminence there was more
of order and care, than of single jurisdiction and power.
Read their three-and-thirtieth canon, — " It behoves the
Bishops of every distinct nation to know him who is their
First" (or Primate), " and to esteem him as their Head ; and
to do nothing that is of difficulty, or great moment, contrary
to his opinion. But neither let him do any thing without
0 ["Episcopatus urms est, cujus a Col. Agripp. 1626. But see Bramhall's
singulis in solidum pars tenetur" Replic. to the Bp. of Chalc., c. v. (p.
(Cypr., de Unit. Eccles., Op. p. 108).] 205. fol. ed.), Disc. iii. Pt. i.]
P Platin. in Vita Scti. Petri [p. "
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 155
the opinion of all of them*!." This national Primacy or Pro- DISCOURSE
tarchate, or Patriarchate,, under which the Britannic Churches —
flourished for many ages, is the very same which we contend
for.
4. Fourthly ; it is worthy of our inquiry, how in process of How some
time some Primates did obtain a much more eminent degree
79 of honour, and a larger share in the government of the m
Church, than others. And of this their adventitious grandeur, the Church
we find three principal fountains : first, ancient customs ; others :
secondly, the canons of the Fathers ; and thirdly, the edicts
of Christian princes. First, ancient customs. Upon this either by
ground the first general Council of Nice settled the authority Cl
and privileges of the three Patriarchal Sees of Rome, Alex
andria, and Antioch ; — " Let ancient customs prevail r." And
these customs commonly proceeded either from the memory of
the Apostles, who had founded such Churches ; from whence
as from Apostolical fountains their neighbours did fetch
sound doctrine, and reciprocally paid to them due respect ; —
so Hosius proposed in the Occidental Council of Sardis in
favour of the See of Rome, ' Doth it please you that we
should honour the memory of St. Peter s?' — or from the or from the
more powerful principality of the city, which is alleged by the fhTcity ; °
Council of Chalcedon as a reason of the greatness both of
the Sees of Rome and Constantinople, — ' because they were
the seats of the emperors V Secondly, the canons of the or by de-
Fathers, either without custom, or against custom. Thus Councils ;
the Bishop of Hierusalem, an Apostolical See, was raised
above the Bishop of Csesarea, an imperial city, notwithstand
ing the contrary custom u. Thus Constantinople, because it
was newly made the seat of the empire, was equalled to an
Apostolical See, that is, Rome, and preferred before all the
rest by the general Councils of Constantinople and Chal
cedon, notwithstanding the opposition of the Bishop of
Rome by his legates, who grieved the more to see Thracia,
q Can. Apostol. 33. [ap. Labb., Con- * Concil. Chalcedon. [A. D. 451)
cil., torn. i. p. 32. — See Bingham, bk. ii. can. 28. " 8ia rb jSao-tAeveti/," K. r. A.
c. 16. § 1-3.] [ap. Labb., Concil., torn. iv. p. 770. —
r ["To apxcua e07j KpaTciTw."] Con- Concil. Constantin. (A. D. 381) can. 3.,
cil. Nicsen. can. 6. [ap. Labb., Concil., ap. Labb., Concil., torn. ii. p. 947.]
torn. ii. p. 32. C.] u [Concil. Chalcedon., IV. (Ecumen.
5 [Concil. Sardic. (A.D. 34-7) can. 3., (A. D. 451), Act. vii., ap. Labb., Con-
ap Labb., Concil., torn. ii. pp. 628, 629.] cil., torn. iv. pp. 612-617.]
156 A JUST VINDICATION OP
PART which he conceived to belong to his own jurisdiction, to be
-annexed to a rival See. Lastly, the edicts of sovereign
of princes.8 princes, who out of favour either to the place of their birth
or of their residence or of their own foundation, or for the
weal-public and better accommodation of their subjects, have
enlarged or restrained Patriarchates within their own terri
tories, and raised up new Primates or Patriarchs as they
thought fit. But of this more in my next conclusion x.
ManyPri- 5. Fifthly; notwithstanding the pre-eminence of the five
jecttonone great Patriarchs of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, An-
greatVaM- tioch, and Hierusalem, and their great power and authority
in the Church, especially in general Councils ; yet there were
many other Protarchs or Patriarchs, who had no dependence
upon them at all out of Council, nor owed them any obedience,
but only a precedence and honourable respect. Ruffinus, a
Priest of the Roman Church who lived not long after the
Council of Nice, and one wrho understood the ancient proper
bounds of the Roman Patriarchate as well as any man, doth
limit it to the Suburbicary Churches, that is, a part of Italy
and three islands, Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica y. Afric had
a Primate of their own at Carthage ; the rest of Italy at
Milan ; France at Aries or Lyons ; Germany at Vienna ;
Britain was removed far enough out of this account z.
aPPears most clearly in the case between the
the Patri- Patriarch of Antioch and the Cyprian Bishops, sentenced
tioch and in the general Council of Ephesus. The Patriarch of Antioeh
Bishops, challenged the ordination of the Cyprian Bishops, and con
sequently a Patriarchal jurisdiction over them ; for ' all other
rights do follow the right of ordination/ They denied both
his right of ordination and jurisdiction. The difference wras
heard. The witnesses Avere examined for matter of fact.
And a sentence was given, not only in favour of the Cyprian
Bishops, but of all others which were in the same condition :
among which, number wTere our Britannic Churches, as shall
evidently appear in this ensuing discourse. But first let us
listen to the words of the Council ; ' Since common diseases
do need greater remedies, because they bring greater damage;
* [See c. vi,] Beveridge, Cod. Can. Eccl. Prim., lib. ii.
y Ruffin., Hist. Eccles., lib. i. c. 6. c. v., — Bingh., bk. ix. c. i. § 11. It was
[See Cave, Governm. of the Anc. Ch., the Gallic Vienna, which was a metro-
cc. Hi., and v. § 10.] pol. See.]
z [Cave, ibid., c. v. § 2. 5. 6-8., —
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 157
if it be not the ancient custom that the Bishops of Antioch DISCOURSE
ordain in Cyprus, as the Council is sufficiently satisfied/
" the Cyprian Prelates shall hold their rights untouched and
unviolated, according to the canons of the holy Fathers and
the ancient custom,, ordaining their own Bishops. And let
the same be observed in other Dioceses, and in all Provinces,
that no Bishop occupy another Province, which formerly and
from the beginning was not under the power of him, or his
predecessors. If any do occupy another Province, or subject
it by force, let him restore it, that the canons of the Fathers
be not slighted, nor pride creep into the Church under the [" M7j8e <=v
pretext of worldly power, lest by little and little that liberty ^J^/ton
be lost which Christ purchased for us with His blood, fyowias
Therefore it hath pleased the Holy Synod, that every Pro- dend. /con
vince enjoy its rights and customs un violated, which it had
80 from the beginning a." These words " from the beginning"- - T
" e% a/3%^9 avwOev" — are twice repeated. It is no marvel if
some, addicted to the interest of Rome, have gone about by
slight of hand, but very unsuccessfully, to shuffle this canon
out of the Acts of the Council. If the Fathers in that holy
and (Ecumenical Council were so tender and sensible of
" pride creeping into the Church" in those days, and of the
danger "to lose their Christian liberty" in the case of the
Bishop of Antioch, who neither pretended Divine right, nor
universal jurisdiction, nor superiority above Councils; what
would they not have said or done in this present case of the
Bishop of Rome, who challengeth not only the right of
ordaining, but the grace of ordination, and sovereign jurisdic
tion, not over Cyprus only, but over the whole Christian
world, not from custom, or canons, or edicts, but from the
institution of Christ ; who makes all the validity of the
decrees of those (Ecumenical Councils which his predecessors
received and reverenced as the Gospel b, to depend upon his
own confirmation c ?
To apply this home to the question. The general Council The case
a Concil. Ephes. [A. D. 431] P. ii. [editt. before BenecL— 25. ed. Bened.
Act. 7. [ap. Labb., Concil., torn. iii. See p. 97, note e.]
p. 802. One unimportant clause is in- c [SeeBeveridge, Annot. ad Synodic.,
accurately translated, as will be seen by pp. 58, 59, 106; and Leo Allat, De
the original placed above in the margin.] Eccl. Occ. et Or. Consens., lib. i. c. 25.
b Greg. M., Epist., lib. i. Ep. 24.
§ 2, 3.]
158 A JUST VINDICATION OF
T of EiYhesns rlpflar*
p A a T Of Ephesus declared, that no Bishop should occupy any pro-
Cyprian > which before that Council, and " from the beginning/'
Bishops had not been under the jurisdiction of him or his prede
cessors ; and that if any Patriarch usurped any jurisdiction
over a free Province, ' ' he should quit it ;" for so " it pleased,"
not the Pope, but "the holy Synod," that every Province should
"enjoy its ancient rights pure and inviolate." Now if it shall
evidently appear, that the Bishops of Rome never exercised
any manner of jurisdiction over the Britannic Churches
from the beginning ; no, nor yet before the general Council
of Ephesus ; nor for six hundred years after Christ ; that is,
until they themselves had disowned their Patriarchal right ;
when Pope Boniface the Third, who entered into the Roman
See about three years after the death of Gregory the Great,
obtained from Phocas an usurping emperor to be universal
Bishop, that is to say, an usurping monarch over the Church d;
which fell out so soon after the arrival of Austin in England,
that there wanted time to have settled the Roman Patriarch
ate in Britain, though the Britons had been as willing to
receive it, as they were averse from it; and if no true general
Council since that time hath ever subjected Britain unto
the Roman Court ; then the case is clear, that Rome can pre
tend no right over Britain, without their own consents, nor
any farther, nor for any longer time, than they are pleased
to oblige themselves ; then the subsequent and violent
usurpations of the Roman Bishops cannot render them bonce
fidei possessores — lawful owners ; but that they are always
bound to quit their encroachments, and the Britannic
Churches and those who derive by succession from them are
always free to vindicate and reassume their ancient rights
and privileges.
The proof In this controversy, by law, the burden of the proof ought
in tliis
cause to rest upon them, who affirm a right, and challenge a juris-
resf uVon diction ; not upon us who deny it. Men are not put to prove
neeatives- Let tnem produce their registers, and shew for
the first six hundred years what ecclesiastical courts the
Roman Bishops or their legates have held in Britain, what
causes they have removed from thence to Rome upon appeals,
d [A. D. GOG. See Paul. Diac., De tine came to England in 597.]
Gest. Langobard., lib. iv. c. 11. Angus-
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 159
what sentences given in Britain they have repealed there, DISCOURSE
what British subjects they have excommunicated, or sum —
moned to appear at Rome ; let them shew what Bishoprics
they have conferred in Britain in those days, what British
Bishops did then entitle themselves to their Bishoprics " by
the grace of God, and of the Apostolic See;" let them
declare to the world how many of our British Primates or
Patriarchs of York, London, or Caerleon, have constantly, or
at all, repaired to Rome to be ordained, or have received
licenses or dispensations thence for their ordination at home,
or elsewhere; for ' ordinationis jus c&tera jura sequuntur' — he
who is necessarily by law obliged to have recourse to a foreign
Prelate for his ordination, is thereby implied to be inferior or
subject to his ordainer. If they can say nothing to any of
these points, they may disclaim their Patriarchal right in
Britain, and hold their peace for ever.
The reasons why I set York before London in the order of [why York
our British Patriarchs or Primates, are these. First, because London!]1^
I find their names subscribed in that order in the Council of
Aries, held in the year 314, consisting as some say of two
hundred, as others say, of six hundred, Bishops, convocated
by Constantine the Great, before the first Council of Nice,
to hear and determine the appeal of the Donatists from the
83 sentence of the imperial delegates, whereof Melchiades the
Bishop of Rome was one e. It were a strange sight in these
days to see a Pope turn legate to the emperors in a cause of
ecclesiastical cognizance. Secondly, for the same reason
that Rome and Constantinople in those days of the Roman
puissance were dignified above all other Churches, because
they were then the seats of the emperors. York was then an
imperial city, the metropolis of the chief Britannic province,
called at that time Maxima Csesariensis ; where Severus the
Emperor died, and had his funeral pile upon Severs Hill, a
place adjoining to that city; where Constantine the Great
was born, "in domoRegalivocatdPertenna*" — "in the Royal
e [Act. Concil. Arelatens., ap. Labb., cular testimony given in the text (which
Concil.,tom. i. p. 1430. See Ussher, De is that only of the English Orators at
Primord. Eccles. Brit, c. v. pp. 97, 98.] the Council of Basle in 1434 in a dis-
f [For the evidence upon the very pute for precedence with the ambassa-
doubtful question of Constantirie's birth- dors of Spain), the addenda (p. 990)
place, see Ussher as before quoted, to that chapter, p. 175. 1. 28. Gibbon
c. viii. pp. 173-193 ; and for the parti- prefers the claims of Naissus in Dacia.]
160 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART Palace " (whereof some poor remainders are yet to be seen)
then " called Pertenna," now a small part of it called vulgarly
Bederna (a very easy mistake, if we consider that the
British pronounce P for B,and T like D), situate near Christ V
Church " in Curia Regis," or in the King's Court, on the one
hand, and extending itself near to St. Helen's Church upon
the walls, now demolished, on the other hand.
Although their silence alone to my former demand (at
least of so many whom I have seen that have written upon
this subject) be a sufficient conviction of them, and a sufficient
vindication of us ; yet for farther manifestation of the truth,
let us consider, —
The Bri- 1 . First, that if we compare the ages and originals of the
Church an- Roman and Britannic Churches, we shall find, that the
.cienter Britannic is the more ancient and elder sister to the Roman
than the
Roman. itself; the Britannic Church being planted by Joseph of
Arimathea in the reign of Tiberius Caesar g, whereas it is
confessed that St. Peter came not to Rome, to lay the foun
dation of that Church, until the second year of Claudius, —
" secundo Claudii anno in Italiam venith :" so if we look to the
beginning, according to the direction of the Council of
Ephesus, the Britannic Church in its first original was free
from the jurisdiction of the Bishop and Court of Rome,
where there was neither Bishop nor court nor ecclesiastical
jurisdiction at that day.
The Bri- 2. Secondly, that it continued free in ensuing ages appears
Churches evidently by that opposition, which the Church of Britain
th^EaTtern mamtained against the Church of Rome, siding with the
against the Eastern Churches about the question of those times con-
Roman. . . . .
cernmg the observation 01 Easter and administration of
Baptism, wherein Austin about the six hundredth year
laboured to conform them, but in vain. Is it credible that
the whole British and Scottish Church should so unanimously
have dissented from Rome for many hundred years together,
if they had been subject to the jurisdiction of the Roman
8 Gild., De Excid. et Conquestu British Church was founded by St.Paul
Britann. [c. 6. ed. Josselin. 1568. — But after A.D. 60.]
for the amount of his testimony see h Platin. in Vita Sancti Petri [p.
Stillingfleet's Orig. Britann., c. i. init., 4, 1]. — Baron., Annal., in an. 44. [num.
who regards it as consistent with the 60. But the truth of this account ap-
otherwise probable account that the pears to be more than doubtful.]
ISCOURSE
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 161
Bishop, as of their lawful Patriarch ; or that the Bishop of n
Rome in all that time should never so much as question IIj
them for it, if they had been his subjects ? even then when
Pope Victor durst attempt to deny or withdraw his commu
nion from all the Asiatic Churches about the same business.
Neither were the British Churches at last conformed to
Rome by any Patriarchal power, but by many conferences,
by the necessity of their civil affairs, and by long tract of
time, some sooner, some later : — a long tract of time in
deed, when some in the most septentrional parts of those
provinces were not reduced until a little before the late
Reformation.
3. Thirdly, among the principal privileges of Patriarchal British
power is the right of ordination ; — that all Metropolitans at ordained at
least should either be ordained by the Patriarch, or by license home<
from the Patriarch. This appears clearly in the dispute be
tween the Patriarch of Antioch and the Cyprian Bishops.
But where the Bishops were avro/cecfraXoi, and avTovo^oi,1 —
independent upon, not subject unto, any foreign Prelate, there
they ordained at their own pleasures, [and] needed no license.
Such were our British Primates, [not k] ordained always or
ordinarily at Rome, [butk;] according to the Cyprian privileges,
creating new Bishoprics, ordaining new Bishops, at their own
pleasures, without giving any account to Rome. So we read of
St. Telaus, who had been driven out of his own country by
an epidemical sickness for a long time, that at his return he
consecrated and ordained Bishops as he thought fit : that he
'made one Hismael Bishop of St. David's/ and "in like manner
advanced many other men of the same order to the same
degree, sending them throughout the country, and dividing
the parishes for the best accommodation of the clergy and
of the people l" And if there were no other proof of our
exemption, but only the small number of the Bishops that
84 were ordained by all the succeeding Popes for about the first
three hundred years until the death of Marcellinus ; it were [A.D.304]
sufficient to shew, that the Bishops of Rome in those days
had little or nothing to do out of their own province, and
1 [Bingham, bk. ii. c. 18. § 2.] sense.]
k [These two words are inserted upon l Ilegest. Landav., ap. Ussher., De
the authority of the folio edition. They Primord. Eccles. Brit, [c. xiv. pp. 559,
are clearly required to complete the 560.]
BRAMHALL. M
1G2 A JUST VINDICATION OT
PART that their jurisdiction extended nothing near so far as Britain.
- St. Peter ordained but three in his supposed five and twenty
years, that is, Linus and Cletus (" ut sacerdotale Ministerium
Romano populo et advents bene sentientibus exliiberent m ") and
Clement, to whom he bequeathed his Episcopal chair : Linus
but eleven, Clement but fifteen, Anacletus but six, Euaristus
but five, Alexander but five, Sixtus but four", &c. These
were few enough for their own province, and none to spare
for Britain. In the whole term of three hundred years there
were few above two hundred Bishops ordained at Rome.
Italy alone may brag well near of as many Bishops at one time,
as many succeeding Popes did ordain in all their ages0. Let
them not tell us of the scarcity of Christians in those days.
The writings of Tertullian, and Saint Cyprian, and the
Councils held within the time limited, do evince the contrary P.
No, the first badge of their Patriarchal authority in Britain
was sending of the pall (or the only badge during the times
of the Britons and Saxons) ; and the first pall that came into
Britain was after six hundred years.
The an- 4. But this doth yet appear much more clearly from the
Dionothus. answer of Dionothus the reverend and learned abbot of Bangor
(which according to the manner of those times was an uni
versity or seminary of learning and piety among the Britons,
and he the well-deserving rector of it), made in his own name
and in the name of the Britons, when they pressed him to
submit to the Roman Bishop as his Patriarch; — that 'he
knew no obedience due to him whom they called the Pope, but
the obedience of love ; and that under God they were to be
governed by the Bishop of Caerleon V Observe first, what
strangers the Britons were to the Papacy, — " that man whom
you call the Pope:" secondly, that they acknowledged no
m Platin. [in Vita S. Petri, p. 6, 1.] sages quoted from Tertullian: but the
" [Platin. in the lives of those language he holds throughout his works
Popes.] implies the existence of a widely ex-
0 [The number of Episcopal Dio- tended and numerous Church. There
ceses, assigned by the fullest account to were present in the fourth Council of
the ancient province of Italy (which Carthage in 253 sixty-six Bishops ; in
however was of larger extent than Italy the seventh Council of Carthage in 256
commonly so called), is 277 according seventy-one ; and in the eighth Council
to Bingham (bk. ix. c. 5).] of Carthage in the same year eighty -
p [Tertull., Apolog. adv. Gentes, seven (Cave, Hist. Litt.).]
c. 37. Adv. Judaeos, c. 7 — There is no q Spelm., Concil., an. 601. [torn. i.
one passage in St. Cyprian equally to pp. 108,109.]
the point with the two well-known pas-
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 163
subjection or subordination, no " obedience " whatsoever,, due DISCOURSE
from them to Rome, but only the reciprocal duty of "love/'
that was just the same that Rome did owe to them : thirdly,
that " under God," that is, immediately, without any foreign
Prelate or Patriarch intervening, " they were to be governed
by the Bishop of Caerleon," as their only Primate and Patri
arch ; which privilege continued to the succeeding Bishops of
that See for many ages afterwards, saving that the Archi-
episcopal Chair was removed from Caerleon to St. David's in
the reign of King Arthur r : and, lastly, observe the time
when this answer was made, after the first six hundred years
were expired ; so it is a full demonstrative convincing proof
for the whole term prefixed.
But, lest any man should cavil and say, that Dionothus was Confirmed
but one man and that the body of the British clergy might British
be of another mind, that which follows strikes the question syncds-
dead : that Austin, St. Gregory's legate, proposing three
things to the Britons ; first, that they should submit to the
Roman Bishop ; secondly, that they should conform to the
customs of the Roman province about the observation of
Easter and the administration of Baptism ; and, lastly, that
they should join with him in preaching to the Saxons; all
the British clergy assembled themselves together, Bishops
and Priests, in two several Synods one after another, to deli
berate hereupon, and after mature consideration they rejected
all his propositions synodically, and refused flatly and unani
mously to have anything to do with him upon those terms s :
insomuch as St. Austin was necessitated to return over the
seas to obtain his own consecration, and after his return
to consecrate the Saxon Bishops alone without the assistance
of any other Bishops *. They refused indeed to their own
cost; twelve hundred innocent monks of Bangor shortly
after lost their lives for itu; 'Rome was ever builded in
r ['Had been removed', — viz. from Orig. et Gestis Britann., lib. viii. c. 4.]
Caerleon to LlandafF by Dubricius in — Beda, [Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. c. 2.] — •
512 ; from LlandafF to St. David's or et omnes alii.
Menevia by St. David in 516: see * Respons. Gregor. ad Octav. Quaest.
Spelman's Apparat. ad Concil., p. 25, [Augustini, — ap. Spelm., Concil.,tom.L
and for a solution of the difficulty p. 88., from Bede (in whose reckoning
hence arising, Hammond as quoted in the question is the sixth], Hist. Eccles.,
note y.] lib. i. c. 28. See also the beginning of
s Spelm., Concil, an. 601. [torn. i. the same chapter, and c. 29.]
pp. 104-106.]— Galfred. Monum., [De u Bed. [Hist. Eccles., lib. ii. c. 2.]
M 2
164 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART blood ;' howsoever these words, — " quamvis Augustino prim
— - — mortuo " — liave since been forged and inserted into Venerable
Bede, to palliate the matter, which are wanting in the Saxon
copyx. The concurring testimonies of all our historiographers
witnessing the absolute and unanimous refusal of the Britons to
submit to Rome, and the matter of fact itself, do confirm this
for an undoubted truth beyond all exception y. So clear a
truth it is, that the British Churches for the first three hun
dred years neither owed nor paid any subjection to Rome.
Whence might well proceed that answer of Eleutherius to
King Lucius (if that epistle be not counterfeit) when he 85
desired him to send over a copy of the Roman laws, ' ' that he
should choose a law " ecclesiastical " out of Holy Writ by the
Council of his kingdom," that is, principally of his Bishops ;
" for," saith he, " you are the Vicar of Christ in your king
dom z :" — the same in effect which is contained in the laws of
Edward the Confessor. Hence it is that both our histories
and our laws do style our Archbishops " Primates," which in
the language of the primitive times signifies as much as
Patriarchs, and sometimes call them expressly by the very
name of Patriarchs itself a. Hence Urban the Second enter
tained and welcomed Anselm, our Archbishop of Canterbury,
fA.D. 1097.] into the Council of Barre, " tanquam alterius orbisPapam" —
" as the Pope of another world b," or, as others relate the pas
sage, as "the Apostle of another world, and a Patriarch
worthy to be reverenced c."
x Antiquit. Brit. [Eccle-s., p. 48 — in fin., Discourses iii. and iv. Part i.]
Wheloc's Bede, p. 114. The exact z [Epist. Domini Eleutherii Lucio
words inserted are these, — "quamvis Reg. Britann., ap. Lambard., DePriscis
ipso jam multo ante tempore ad coelestia Anglor. Legibus, p. 142.]
regna sublato."~] a Malmesb., De Gest. Pontif. An-
y [For the authority and authenticity glor., Prolog, ad lib. [i.] — Gloss. Juris
of this account of Dinoth, see Spehnan [P. i.] Distinct, xxi. c. " Cleros" [scil.
as before quoted; — Hammond's " Ac- c. 1. See Twysden's Histor. Vindic.,
count of H. T. his Appendix to his c. iii. p. 18.]
Manual of Controversies concerning the b [Malmesb., De Gest. Pontif. An-
Abbotof Bangor's Answer to Augustine" glor., lib. i. in Vit. Anselm. — Gervas.
(Works, vol. ii.), — Stillingfleet's Orig. Dorobern., p. 1327. ap. Twysden, Histor.
Brit., in fin., — Bingham, Orig. Eccles., Anglic. Scrip tor. Decem.]
bk. ix. c. 1. § 12. — and Bramhall's c [Eadmer in Vita Anselmi, lib. ii.
" Reply to S. W.'s Refutation," &c., p. 20. E., in fin. Op. Anselm, ed.
sect, iv., and Schism Guarded, Sect. iv. Bened.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 165
CHAP. VI.
THAT THE KING AND CHURCH OF ENGLAND HAD BOTH SUFFICIENT AUTHO
RITY AND SUFFICIENT GROUNDS TO WITHDRAW THEIR OBEDIENCE FROM
ROME, AND DID IT WITH DUE MODERATION.
I. So, from the persons who made the separation, from the DISCOURSE
laws and statutes of our realm which warranted the separa- -
tion, and from the ancient liberties and privileges of the reign V6
Britannic Churches, I proceed to my fourth ground, drawn
from the imperial prerogatives of our sovereign princes ; — that to ^er
though we should wave all the other advantages, yet they is of human
had power to alter, in the external discipline and regiment of
the Church, whatsoever was of human institution, for the
benefit and advantage of the body politic.
Doctor H olden proposeth the case right by way of objec
tion ; — " But peradventure the Protestants will say, that the
king or supreme senate of every kingdom or commonwealth
have power to make laws and statutes, by which, either
directly, or at least indirectly, as well the clergy as the laity
of that kingdom or commonwealth, are bound to reject all
foreign jurisdiction, superiority, and dependence; and that
this legislative power is essentially annexed to every kingdom
and commonwealth, seeing that otherwise they cannot prevent
those dangers which may spring and issue from that fountain
to their destruction and ruin d."
The Protestants do say so indeed without all peradventure,
upon that very ground which is alleged in the objection.
Neither do the Protestants want the suffrage of Roman
Catholics therein. "Because human nature," saith one,
" cannot be destitute of necessary remedies to its own preser
vation e." And another, " to whom a kingdom is granted, of
necessity all things are esteemed to be granted without which
a kingdom cannot be governed : and a kingdom cannot be
governed, unless the king enjoy this power even over clerks,"
&c. e Necessary remedies are no remedies unless they be
d Append, de Schism., art. 4. p. 526. [pp. 409, 410. S. Clara has quoted
e Suarez, [De Legibus,] lib. iii., the wrong title but the right chapter in
De Primatu Summi Pontif., c. i. Suarez, and in both cases has given the
num. 4. et Morla in Empor. Jur., P. i. sense and not the precise words of his
tit. [1. " De Legibus," quaest. 1. num. author.]
20.]— citati a Saiicta Clara in art. 37.
166 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART just, but worse than the disease : and being just,, the subject
- is obliged to active obedience.
But let us see what the Doctor pleads in answer to his own
objection.
[True case 1 . First, he passeth by ' ' the native power of civil sovereign
against an empire/' which ought not to have been omitted ; for therein
consists the main force of the argument. But fas to the
ecclesiastical part/ he saith he c could demonstrate clearly, if
it were needful,' that fthe dependence of Bishops and other
orthodox Christians upon the Pope, being rightly conceived
as it is and as it is really necessary according to the certain
and true principles of Catholic religion, doth not bring any
the least shadow of danger to the commonwealth, though in
hostility with the Pope, or of a different communion from the
Pope f.' If we lived in Plato's commonwealth, where every
one did his duty, this reason were of more force. Far be it
from us to imagine, that the right exercise of any lawful
pOAver, grounded upon the certain and true principles of
Catholic religion, should be dangerous to any society. But
this is not our case. What if the Bishops and Court of Rome 86
have swerved from those certain and true principles of
Catholic religion ? or have abused that power which was
committed to their trust by Christ, or by His Church ? or
have usurped more authority than did belong unto them ? or
have engrossed all Episcopal jurisdiction to themselves,
leaving the Bishops of the land but ciphers in their own
dioceses ? or have hazarded the utter ruin and destruction of
the Church by their simony, extortion, provisions, reserva
tions, and exemptions ? or have obtruded new unwarrantable
oaths upon the subjects, inconsistent with their allegiance ?
or have drained the kingdom of its treasure by pecuniary
avaricious arts ? or have challenged to themselves a negative
voice against the right heir of the crown ; or authority to
depose a crowned king, and absolve his subjects from their
oaths and allegiance to their sovereigns ? and have shewed
themselves incorrigible in all these things. This is our case.
In any one of these cases, much more in them all conjoined,
it is not only lawful, but very necessary, for Christian princes
to reform such gross abuses, and to free themselves and their
f Append, de Schism., pp. 526, 527.
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 167
subjects from such a tyrannical yoke ; if they can, by the DISCOURSE
direction of a general Council, if not, of a provincial. And it
is not schism but loyalty in their subjects to yield obedi
ence.
2. The same author proceeds, that ' no civil power, how Protestants
sovereign soever, can correct the fundamental articles ofreforraa.
Christian faith, nor pervert the order of sacred rites received J^^d^no
by universal tradition as instituted by Christ, nor justify any articles of
J J J J J religion
thing by their edicts which is against Christian charity s.' To nor sacred
all this we do readily assent, and never did presume to arro- violated
gate to ourselves or to exercise any such power. But still chanty-
this is wide from our case. What if the Bishop of Rome
have presumed to coin and attempted to obtrude upon us
new articles of Faith, as he hath in his new Creed, and to
pervert the sacred rites instituted by Christ, as in his
withholding the Cup from the laity ? Then without
doubt not we, but he, is guilty of the schism. Then it is
lawful to separate from him in his innovations, without
incurring the crime of schism. This is laid down by the
author himself as an " evident conclusion," and we thank
him for it ; that ' it is necessary for every Christian to acknow
ledge no authority under Heaven, either ecclesiastical or civil,
that hath power to abrogate those things that are revealed
and instituted by Christ, or to determine those things which
are opposite unto them/ "quod schismatis origo foret" —
" which should be the original of schism V But where that
author infers as a corollary from the former proposition, that
' no edict of a sovereign prince can justify schism, because all
schism is destructive to Christian charity1/ I must crave
leave with all due respect to his person, to his learning, to
his moderation, and to his charity, to rectify that mistake.
If by " schism " he understand criminal schism, that which
he saith is most true; that were not only to ( justify the [Pi;<
wicked/ which is "an abomination to the Lord," but to
justify wickedness itself. But every separation, or schism
taken in a large sense, is not criminal, nor at all destructive
to Christian charity. Sometimes it is a necessary, Christian,
charitable, duty. In all cases that I have supposed above,
ov.
xvii. 15.}
g [Ibid.] p. 528. i [Ibid.] p. 528.
h [Ibid.] p. 533.
168
A JUST VINDICATION OF
p A^R T and shall prove hereafter, they that make the separation con-
- timie Catholics, and they that give the cause become the
schismatics.
But it may be urged, that this proceeds from the merit
of the cause, not from the authority of the sovereign prince.
I answer, it proceeds from both. Three things are neces
sary to make a public reformation lawful ; just grounds, due
moderation, and sufficient authority. There may be just
grounds without sufficient authority ; and sufficient authority
without just grounds ; and both sufficient authority and just
grounds without due moderation. But where these three
things concur, it justifies the reformation before God and man,
and renders that separation lawful, which otherwise were
schismatical.
Nor swerv- 3. Lastly, it is alleged, that ' the power of the sovereign
ed from the . ,
law of na- magistrate is not so absolute that he can command any thing
positive at k*s Pleasure, so as to oblige his subjects to obedience, in
God °f tmngs repugnant to the law of nature, or the positive law of
GodV No orthodox Christian can doubt of this truth.
The authority of the inferior ceaseth, where the superior
declareth his pleasure to the contrary. " Da veniam Impe-
rator, tu carcerem, Ille gehennam minatur " — " Pardon me, O
Emperor, thou threatenest me with imprisonment,, but God
Almighty with hell fire \" But this is nothing to our case.
Neither the law of nature, nor the law of God, doth enjoin 87
British Christians to buy pardons and indulgences and dis
pensations and Bulls and palls and privileges at Rome, con
trary to the fundamental laws of the realm. Boniface the
Eighth by his BulL exempted the University of Oxford from
the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, whereupon
did grow a controversy between Thomas Arundel Archbishop,
and the University ; and the said Bull was decreed to be void
by two succeeding kings, Richard the Second, and Henry the
Fourth, in Parliament, as being obtained " in pr&judicium
corona sua, et legum et consuetudinum regni sui enervationem "
—" to the prejudice of his imperial crown, and to the weaken
ing of the laws and customs of his realm m."
k [Ibid.] p. 530. m Ex Archivis Turris Londinensis
1 Augustin. [De Verb. Domini, Serm. citat author Antiquitat. Acad. Cantab.
Ixii., torn. v. p. 362. F.] [scil. Joh. Cciius, lib. ii. p. 71. cd. 1574.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 169
But this disobedience to the decrees of sovereign princes DISCOURSE
must be joined with passive obedience; it must be only when —
and where their commands are evidently unjust ; such as doubtful
Pharaoh's commanding the Hebrew midwives to kill aU
the male children, or Saul's enjoining his guard to slay the
Priests of the Lord, or like Nebuchadnezzar's idolatrous Exod il7
edict, charging all men to fall down and worship his golden [ Sam.xxn.
image. For otherwise, if the case be doubtful, it is a rule in [Dan. ill.]
case-divinity, e subditi tenentur in favor em legis judicare ' —
' subjects are bound to judge in favour of the law ;' otherwise
they run into a certain crime of disobedience, for fear of an
uncertain. A war may be unjust in the prince, and yet the
soldier be guiltless. Nor is the subject obliged to sift the
grounds of his sovereign's commands too narrowly. It Unjust
happens often that ' ' reum facit principem iniquitas imperandi,
innocentem subditum ordo serviendi n " — c The prince may be
unjust in his commands, and yet the subject innocent in his
obedience.' Take the case at the worst, it must be doubtful
at the least, the Pope's sovereignty and the jurisdiction of the
Roman Court being rejected by three parts of the Christian
world, and so unanimously shaken off by three kingdoms.
And in such a case, who is fittest to be judge ? the Pope, the
people, or the king? Not the Pope; he is the person ac
cused, and 'frustra expectatur cujuslibet authoritas contra
seipswn ' — ' it is in vain to expect that one should employ his
authority against himself.' Not the people ; would a judge
take it well that a gaoler should detain the prisoner from
execution, until he were satisfied of the justice of his sen
tence ? or a pilot, that he may not move his rudder according
to the alterable face of the heavens, but at the discretion of
the ordinary mariners ? No ; whensoever any question hath
been moved between any kingdom or republic of what com
munion soever and the Court of Rome, concerning the
liberties and privileges of the one, or the extortions and
encroachments of the other, they have evermore assumed the
last judicature to themselves, as of right it doth belong unto
them.
1 . The Romanists themselves do acknowledge, that sove- Princes are
reign princes, by the law of God and nature, not only may protlct t0
Augustin. [Cont. Faust, Manich., lib. xxii. c. 75. torn. viii. p. 405. G.]
170 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART but are in justice obliged to oppose the tyranny of ecclesias-
- tical iudges, and to protect and free tlieir subiects from their
their sub- ' r.
jectsfrom violence and oppression. Parsons himself wondereth, that
an7 man should deny this power to kings in their own king-
jud»es donis0. But we are fully satisfied and assured,, that that
universal power which the Pope claims by Divine right over
all Christians,, and particularly over the Britannic Churches,
without their consents, and much more that jurisdiction,
which de facto he did or at least would have exercised there
(and less than which he would not go) to the destruction of
their natural and Christian liberties and privileges, was, and
is, a tyrannical and oppressive yoke. If all Christians were
as well satisfied of the truth of this our assumption as we are,
this controversy were at an end. And thus far all Roman
Catholics not interessed, nor prepossessed with prejudice, do
accord fully with us, that by whomsoever Papal power was
given (whether by Christ, or His Apostles, or the Fathers of
the Church in succeeding ages), it was given for edification,
not for destruction ; and that the Roman Court in later days
hath sought to impose grievous, oppressive, and intolerable
burthens upon their subjects, which it is lawful for them to
shake off without regarding their censure, as we shall see in
the next proposition. But because all are not so well satis
fied about the just extent of Papal authority and power, we
must search a little higher.
Kings may £. Secondly, we do both agree, that sovereign princes may
external be enabled and authorised, either by concession or by pre-
ciesiasticai scription for time immemorial (perhaps it were more properly
ttoniyfit sa^ ^7 virtue of their sovereign authority over the whole
delegates, body politic, whereof the clergy are a part), to exercise all
external acts of ecclesiastical coercive jurisdiction, by them
selves, or at least by fit delegates, " pwecipiendo suis subditis 88
sacerdotibus, ut excommunicent rebelles et contumaces" And
this is asserted in the case of Abbesses, which being women
are less capable of any spiritual juris diction P. The truth is,
that as all ecclesiastical courts and all ecclesiastical coercive
0 Parsons [Answer to Lord Coke's citati a Sancta Clara in Art. 37. pp.
Reports, in Henry IV., c. 13. § 18. [410, 411.]
pp. 520, 521.], Cajetanus [Apolog. de p Sancta Clara [as before quoted,
Potest. Papoe et Concil., c. 27.], &c. pp. 406, 407.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 171
jurisdiction did flow at first, either from the bounty and DISCOURSE
goodness of sovereign princes to the Church, or from their
connivance, or from the voluntary consent and free sub
mission of Christians (c volenti non fit injuria ' — consent takes
away error) — I except always that jurisdiction which is purely
spiritual, and an essential part of the power of the Keys,
whereof emperors and kings are not capable ; — so, whenso
ever the weal-public and the common safety of their people
doth require it, for advancement of public peace and tran
quillity and for the greater ease and convenience of the
subject in general, according to the vicissitude and con
version of human affairs and the change of monarchies, they
may, upon well-grounded experience, in a national Synod or
Council, more advisedly retract what their predecessors had
advisedly granted or permitted ; and alter the face and rules
of the external discipline of the Church, in all such things as
are but of human right, when they become hurtful or impedi-
tive of a greater good : in which cases their subjects may with
good conscience and are bound in duty to conform themselves
to their laws. Otherwise kingdoms and societies should
want necessary remedies for their own preservation, which is
granted by both parties to be an absurdity.
Weigh all the parts of ecclesiastical discipline, and consider The em-
what one there is which Christian emperors of old did not
either exercise by themselves or by their delegates, or did not
regulate by their laws, or both ; concerning the privileges and
revenues of Holy Church, the calling of Councils, the pre
siding in Councils, the dissolving of Councils, the confirming
of Councils ; concerning Holy Orders ; concerning the
patronage of, and nomination to, ecclesiastical benefices and
dignities ; concerning the jurisdiction, the suspension, depo
sition, and ordering of Bishops, and Priests, and monks, and
generally all persons in Holy Orders ; concerning appeals ;
concerning religion and the rites and ceremonies thereof;
concerning the Creeds or common symbols of faith ; concern
ing heresy, schism, Judaism, the suppression of sects ; against
swearing, cursing, blaspheming, profaneness, and idolatry;
concerning Sacraments, sanctuaries, simony, marriages,
divorces, and generally all things which are of ecclesiastical
cognizance : wherein he that desires satisfaction, and particu-
172 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART larly to see how the coercive power of ecclesiastical courts and
— : — judges did flow from the gracious concessions of Christian
princes, may (if he be not too much possessed with prejudice)
resolve himself by reading the first book of the Code, the
Authentics or Novels of Justinian the Emperor,, and the
Capitulars of Charles the Great, and his successors kings of
France. "We have been requested/' said Justinian, "by
Menna the Archbishop of this city, beloved of God, and
universal Patriarch, to grant this privilege to the most
reverend clerks/' &c. in pecuniary causes, referring them
first to the Bishop, and, if he could not compose or deter
mine the difference, then to the secular judge; and, in
criminal causes, if the crime were civil, to the civil magis
trate ; if ecclesiastical, to the Bishop q. " By the Council of
our Bishops and nobles" (said Charles the Great) "we have
ordained Bishops throughout the cities" (that is, we have
commanded and authorised it to be done), "and do decree
to assemble a Synod every year, that in our presence the
canonical decrees and laws of the Church may be restored r."
I beseech you, what did our King Henry and the Church of
England more at the Reformation ?
^ *s ^rue-> sovereign princes are not said properly to make
pains.] canons, because they do not prescribe them under pain of
excommunication or suspension or degradation or any spi
ritual punishment. But to affirm that they cannot make
ecclesiastical constitutions under a civil pain, or that they
cannot (especially with the advice and concurrence of their
clergy assembled in a national Synod) reform errors and
abuses, and remedy encroachments and usurpations and
innovations, either in Faith or discipline, and regulate the
new canons or customs of intruders and upstarts by the old
canons of the primitive Fathers, — is contrary to the sense 89
ii 35* lgS an(* Practice of a11 antiquity. King Solomon deposed Abia-
thar from the High Priesthood, and put Zadoc in his place.
Popes con- Nor want we precedents of Popes themselves who have been
prisoned, " convented before emperors, as Sixtus the Third before Valen-
emp0eSrorsby tinian, though Platina s mince the matter a little too much
q [Auth., Collat vi.] Novel. 83. [tit. Lindenbrog., Cod. Legg. Antiq., p.
12. " Ut Clerici apud proprios Episco- 924.]
P°s>" &c-] 6 [Platin. in Vita Sixti III., p. 58, 2.]
r Carol. M. Capital, lib. v. [c. 2., ap.
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 173
(" damnatur Bassus calumniator iniquus annuente Valenti- DISCOURSE
niano," &c.), Leo the Third before Charles the Great * : that -
have been banished by emperors; as Liberius unjustly
banished by Constantius, and more unjustly restored u ;
Sylverius justly banished by Justinian x : that have been im
prisoned by sovereign princes, as Pope John the First by
Theodoricy : that have been deposed by them; as John the
Twelfth by Otho the Great2, and Gregory the Sixth by
Henry the Second, — "Henricus Secundus in Italiam cum magno
exercitu veniens, habitd Synodo, cum Benedictum Nonum,
Sylvestrum Tertium, Gregorium Sextum, tanquam tria teterrima
monstra, abdicare se magistratu coegisset" &c. — " Henry the
Second coming into Italy with a great army, having convo-
cated a Synod, when he had compelled Benedict the Ninth,
Sylvester the Third, and Gregory the Sixth, as three most
filthy monsters, to quit their government, he created Syn-
deger Bishop of Bamberge, afterwards Clement the Second,
Popea." Of old when any schism did infest the Roman
Church (as I think no See in the world hath been oftener
rent asunder by pretenders to the Papacy), the emperors,
when they pleased, did assume unto themselves the cognizance
thereof, and determine the succession either by themselves or
by their exarch or delegates : as Honorius between Boniface
the First and Eulalius b; Theodoric the King between Symma-
chus andLaurentiusc ; the Exarch of Ravenna between Sergius
the First and Paschalis d ; Otho the Third between John the
Seventeenth and Gregory the Fifth e. But when these im
perial acts are done in Synods, they are more authentic,
and more conform to antiquity.
3. Thirdly, our learned and ingenuous countryman The Coun-
Davenport, under the name of Franciscus a Sanctd Clara (far roth's?1"
be it from me to censure Christian charity and moderation ciara]
17 allows to
for lukewarmness, or atheistical neutrality, like those whose withdraw
chief religion consists in crying up a faction ; I rather wish from the
Pope in
certain
cases.
t [Id. in V. Leon. III., p. 119, 1.] b Id. in V. Bonif. I. [p. 56, 1.]
u [Id. in V. Liber., p. 46, 1, 2.] " c Id. in V. Symm. [I., pp. 64, 2.
x [Id. in V. Sylver., pp. 70, 2. 71,1.] 65, 1.]
y [Id. in V. Joh. I., p. 67, 2.] <> [Id. in V. Serg. I., p. 96, 1.]
z [Id. in V. Joh. XIII. (according to e [Id. in V. Greg. V., p. 151, 2.—
Platina's reckoning), p. 145, 1, 2.] John XVII. being reckoned by Plat, as
a Id. in V. Greg. VI. [p. 158, 1.] John XVIII.]
174 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART he had been more universally acquainted with our English
- doctrine), in his Paraphrastical Exposition of our English
Articles, to this question, " How and whether it be lawful in
points of faith to appeal from the Pope, and to decline his
judgment ?" cites the resolution of Gerson in these words
following, " Hoc etiam praclicatwn est per quoscunque reyes
et principes" &c. — "this also hath been practised by all
kings and princes, wrho have withdrawn themselves from the
obedience of those, whom such or such did judge to be Popes;
which substractions nevertheless were approved by the sacred
Council of Constance, some expressly, some implicitly f."
An, 1110. The most Christian King Lewis the Twelfth convocated a
national Council of the French Church at Tours, wherein
sundry articles were proposed, deliberated of, and concluded,
touching these affairs. The third article was, that if the
Pope should invade another prince in a hostile manner, and
excite other princes to invade his territories, whether that
prince might not lawfully withdraw himself from the obedi
ence of such a Pope ? — (where observe, that though this case
alone be specified, as being fitted to that present controversy
between the King of France and the Pope, yet all other cases
of the same nature or consequence are included;) — and,
" Conclusum est per Concilium principem posse ab obedientid
Papas se subducere ac substrahere ; non tamen in totum, et in-
distincte, sed pro tuitione tantum ac defensione jurium suorum
temporalium" — "it was concluded by the Council, that the
prince might withdraw himself from the obedience of the
Pope; yet not totally, nor indistinctly, but only for the
defence of his temporal rights s." The fourth proposition
was, when such a sub str action was lawfully made, what the
prince and his subjects, more particularly Prelates and other
ecclesiastics, ought to do in such things, for which they had
formerly had recourse to the Apostolic See? and, " Conclusum
est per Concilium servandum esse jus commune antiquum, et
Pragmaticam Sanctionem regni, ex decretis sacrosancti Concilii
Basiliensis desumptam " — " it was concluded by the Council,
f p. [415. from Gerson, Tract. "Quo- g Concil. Turon. [A. D. 1510.] Re-
modo et an liceat in causis fidei a S. spons. ad Artie. 3. [ap. Labb., Concil.,
Ponti£appellare,"§"Sequeretur sexto," torn. xiii. p. 1482.]
Op. P. i. fol. 85, Y.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 175
that the ancient common right was to be preserved, and the DISCOURSE
Pragmatical Sanction of the kingdom, taken out of the decrees
of the sacred Council of Basil h." The eighth proposition
was, if the Pope, proceeding unjustly and by force, should
pronounce any censures against such a prince, whether they
ought to be obeyed ? and, " Conclusum est unanimiter per
Concilium talem sententiam nullam esse nee de jure vel olio
90 quocunque modo ligare " — " it was concluded unanimously by
the Council, that such a sentence was of no force, not binding
in law, or any other way i •" which opinion or resolution of
theirs, the above-mentioned author saith, he ought not to
condemn whilst the Church doth tolerate it k.
Behold a principal cause of the separation of the English
Church from the Pope, the usurpation and encroachments
of the Roman. Court upon the political rights of the crown,
which they would not let go, until they were quite shaken
off.
Antonius de Rosellis, a zealous assertor of the Papal autho- Princes
rity, concludes, that ' the Pope being a heretic, or an apostate, S canons
though but in secret, it is lawful (without any sentence or de- by old>
claration preceding) for any of his subjects that know it, espe
cially for kings and princes, to depart from him and withdraw
themselves from under his power, by that natural right which
they have to defend themselves l.' This may well be doubted
of in the case of private persons, before sentence, by those who
believe him to be constituted by Christ the sovereign mon
arch of the universal Church : but in the case of sovereign
princes with provincial Councils, when general Councils
cannot be had ; and much more when general Councils have
given their sentence formerly in the case (as the Councils of
Constance and Basil have done concerning the Papacy m) ;
and with us who are sufficiently resolved that St. Peter had
no pre-eminence above his fellows but only principality of
order and fthe beginning of unity/ and that whatsoever
power the Bishop of Rome hath more than any other Bishop,
h [Id.] Respons. ad Artie. 4. [ibid.] 27., ap. Goldast., Monarch. Roman.
1 [Id.] Respons. ad Artie. 8. [ibid.]
[S. Clara, p. 415.— speaking of th<
.] Imper., torn. i. pp. 372. 376.]
p. 415.— speaking of the m [Concil. Constant. (A. D. 1415.)
3rd, and not of the 8th, article.] Sess. xii. ap. Labb., Concil., torn. xii.
1 In [Monarchia sive] Tract, de Po- pp. 94, &c Concil. Basil. (A. D.I 431.)
test. Imperator. et Papae. [P. ii. cc. 25. Sess. iii. Decret. 3. ibid. p. 477.]
176 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART it is merely from the customs of the Catholic Church, or from
- the canons of the Fathers, or from the edicts of princes, and
may be taken away upon sufficient grounds by equal autho
rity to that by which it was acquired ; I say, in this our case
there can be no doubt at all. And yet it can much less be
doubted whether a sovereign prince with a national Synod
may remedy the encroachments and usurpations of the Roman
Court within his own dominions, or exclude new Creeds and
new articles of Faith, lately devised and obtruded, contrary to
the determination of the general Council of Ephesus n ; of
which let us hear what is Dr. Holders opinion, — " Notum est
inter Catholicos omnes tanquam axioma certissimum" &c. —
' It is known that all Catholics do hold this as a most certain
axiom, that nothing ought or may be maintained for a Chris
tian revealed truth, but that which was received by our
ancestors, and delivered from one generation to another by
continued succession from the times of the Apostles <V This
is all that we have done, and done it with due submission to
the highest judge of ecclesiastical controversies upon earth,
that is, a general Council. If the Court of Rome will be
humorous, like little children, who, because they cannot
have some toy that they have a mind to, do cast away all
that their parents have given them, we cannot help it.
Patriarchal Over and above all the former grounds, which the Roman-
ject to Sim-~ ists themselves do in some sort acknowledge, I propose this
further, that Patriarchal power in external things is subject
and subordinate to imperial. When Mauritius the Emperor
had made a law that no soldier should turn monk until his
warfare were accomplished, St. Gregory Bishop of Rome dis
liked the law, and represented his sense of it to the emperor,
but withal according to his duty published it : — "Ego quidem
missioni [legend, jussioni] subjectus eandem leg em per diversas
terrarum partes transmitto, et quia lex ipsa omnipotenti Deo
minime concordat, ecce per suggestions me& paginam dominis
nunciavi ; utrobique ergo qua debui exolvi, qui et imper atari
obedientiam pr&bui, et pro Deo quid sensi minime tacui? " —
n [Act. Concil. Ephes.] P. ii. Act. 6. Sect. 5. p. 152.
c. 7. [ap. Labb., Concil., torn. iii. p. P [Greg. M. Epist.] lib. ii. Ep. 62.
689. A.] [editt. before Bened.— lib. iii. Ep. 65.
0 De Resolut. Fidei, lib. i. c. 8. torn, ii. p. 677. B. ed. Bened.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.
" I being subject to your command have transmitted your law DISCOURSE
to be published through divers parts of the world ; and because —
the law itself is not pleasing to Almighty God, I have repre
sented my opinion thereof to my lords; wherefore I have
performed my duty on both sides, in yielding obedience to
the emperor, and not concealing what I thought for God."
A most rare and Christian precedent of that great Patriarch,
and fit for our observation and imitation in these days : he
acknowledged the emperor to be his lord, and himself to be
subject to his commands ; and though no human invention
can warrant an act that is morally evil in itself, yet, if it be
only impeditive of a greater good, as that blessed Saint did
take this law to be, the command of a sovereign doth weigh
down the scale, and obligeth a Patriarch to obedience in a
matter that concerns religion. How much more doth the
command of the English monarch and the English Church
disoblige an English subject from a foreign Patriarch, whose
original right is but human at the most, and, in the case in
question between Rome and England, none at all !
But to come up yet closer to the question. The general Emperors
Councils of Constantinople and Chalcedon, with the presence, changed
concurrence, and confirmation, of Theodosius the Great and Patnarchs>
Marcian the emperors, notwithstanding the opposition of the
Roman Bishop by his legates, did advance the Bishop of Con
stantinople from being a poor Suffragan under the Metropo
litan of Heraclea to be the second Patriarch, and equal in
dignity, power, and all manner of privileges, to the first, and
assigned unto him for his Patriarchate Pontus and Asia the
less and Thracia and some other countries, part of which
territories they substracted from the obedience of the Roman
Bishop (at least over which the Roman Bishops challenged
jurisdiction), and part from other Patriarchs. And the reason
of this alteration was the same for which Csesarea of old was
a long time preferred before Hierusalem, and Alexandria
before Antioch, and Rome before all others ; to conform the
ecclesiastical regiment to the political, — because Constan
tinople was made of a mean city the seat of the Eastern
Empire, and had as many dioceses and provinces subject unto
it as old Rome itself ci.
q Concil. Constantin. can. 3. et Goncil. Chalcedon. can. 28. [see p. 130, note u.]
BRAMIIALL. N
178
A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART But lest it may be conceived, that this was not done at all
L — by imperial power, but by the authority of the (Ecumenical
[own]6" Synods, we may observe further, that Justinian the emperor
authority. ^ njs gQje SOVereigii legislative power did new-found the
Patriarchate of Justiniana Prima, and assign a province unto
it, and endow it with most ample privileges, freeing it from
all appeals and all acknowledgment of superiority, giving the
Bishop thereof equal power with that which the Bishop of
Eome had in his Patriarchate r. The same privileges and pre
rogatives were given by the same emperor, by the same legis
lative authority, to the Bishop of Carthage, notwithstanding
that the Bishops of Rome did always pretend that Carthage
was under their jurisdiction s. I deny not that Yigilius and
Gregory, succeeding Popes, did make deputations to the
Bishop of Justiniana, to supply their places *. But this was
but an old Roman fineness. The Bishops of Justiniana
needed none of their commissions. Justinian the father and
founder of the imperial law knew well enough how far his
legislative power did extend. And though the act was noto
rious to the whole world, and inserted into the body of the
law, yet the Fathers of that age did not complain of any
innovation, or usurpation, or breach of their privileges, or
violation of their rights.
English King Henry the Eighth had the same imperial power, and
sovereign was as mucn a sovereign in his own kingdoms, as Justinian
the emperor in his larger dominions (as William Rufus, son
and successor of the Conqueror, said most truly, that 'the
kings of England have all those liberties in their own king
doms, which the emperors had in the empire u'), and had as
much authority to exempt his own subjects from the juris
diction of one Patriarch, and transfer them to another ; espe
cially with the advice, consent, and concurrence of a national
Synod. So King Arthur his predecessor removed the Pri
macy from Caerleon to St. David's x, and another of them? to
as the
emperors
r Novel. 11. [tit. vii. " De Privileg.
Archiep. Justinianae," &c.] et Novel.
131. [tit. .adv. "De Eccles. Titulis,"
&c. c. 3.]
s Novel. 131. [tit. xiv. c. 4.]
t [See p. 138, note u.]
u Matth. Paris. [Hist. Angl. in an.
1095. p. 19.]
* [See p. 163, note r.]
y [Viz. Henry I., who subjected the
See of St. David's to that of Canterbury.
See Girald. Camb., De Jure et Statu
Menevens. Eccles., in Wharton's Angl.
Sacra, torn. ii. ppr 514, &c., and Itiner.
Camb., lib. ii. c. ] Ann. of Gisb., ap.
Spelman., Appar. ad Concil., p. 26, —
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 179
Canterbury, for the advantage of their subjects according to DISCOURSE
the exigence of the times. IIj ._
If the Pope had been the king of England's subject, as
former Popes were the emperors', he might have served him
as they did some of his predecessors ; called a Council, regu
lated him, and reduced him to order and reason; or, if he
proved incorrigible, have deposed him. But the Pope being a
stranger, all that he could justly do, was what he did, rather
than to see his royal prerogative daily trampled upon, his laws
destroyed, his subjects oppressed ; rather than to have new
articles of Faith daily obtruded upon the English Church;
rather than to incur the peril of wilful idolatry, against
conscience and therefore formal : — to cashier the Roman
Court, with all their pardons and indulgences and other
alchymistical devices, out of his kingdoms ; until time should
teach them to content themselves with moderate things,
which endure long; or until either a free (Ecumenical
Council, or an European Synod, should settle controversies,
and tune the jarring strings of the Christian world. In the
mean time we pity their errors, pray for their amendment,
and long for a re-union.
II. Now the just grounds of such subduction or separation n. Two
are of two sorts ; either the personal faults of the Popes or grounds
their ministers, as in the case of simony and schism, which fraction of
ought in justice to reflect upon none but the persons who obedience.
are guilty; or else they are faulty principles and rules, as
92 well in point of doctrine as of discipline, such as the obtruding
of new Creeds, the pressing of unlawful oaths, and the palpable
usurpation of the undoubted rights of others : and these do
justify and warrant a more permanent separation, that is,
until they be reformed. Wherefore, having taken a view of
the sufficiency of the authority of our princes to reform, in
the next place it is worthy of our serious consideration what
were the true grounds of the separation of the kingdom and
Church of England from the Court of Rome ; and, secondly,
whether in the subduction or substraction of their obedience
or communion they observed due moderation.
Collier, Eccl. Hist., Pt. i. bk. iii. vol. i. ed, sect. iv. (Works, p. 378. fol. edit.)
p. 201. — and BramhalPs Schism Guard- Discourse iv. Part i.]
N2
180 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART 1 . The grounds of their separation were many. First ; the
intolerable extortions and excessive rapine of the Court of
Sound!* Rome, committed in that realm by their legates and nnncios
[vi/ the an(j commissioners and collectors and other inferior officers
extortions
aid rapine and harpies, enough to impoverish the kingdom,, and to dram
Court of out of it all the treasure that was in it, and leave it as bare as
a grasshopper in winter, by their indulgences and pardons
for all kind of sin at a certain rate registered in their peni-
[i. e. Tet- tentiary tax z. Yea, as Ticelius, the Pope's pardoner, made
his brag in Germany, though a man had "ravished the Mother
of God/' yet " so soon as the money did but clink in the
bottom of the bason, presently the soul flew out of purga
tory a." To these we may add their dispensations of all sorts,
and commutations, and absolutions, and contributions, and
reservations, and tenths, and first-fruits, and appeals, and
palls : and a thousand other artifices to get money ; as pro
visions, collations, exemptions, canonizations, devolutions, re
vocations, unions, commendams, tolerations, pilgrimages, ju
bilees b. " Nulla hie arcana rcvelo" saith Mantuan,
Venalia nobis
" Templet, sacerdotes, altaria, sacra, corona,
" Ignis, thura, preces ; ccelum est veiiale, Deusqiiec."
1 Temples, priests, altars, mitres, Holy Orders, prayers, masses,
Heaven, and God Himself, are saleable at Rome/. It is no
marvel ; ' they that buy must sell/ And whilst I am writing
these things, comes fresh intelligence of a book lately set
forth " De Simonid prcesentis Pontificis d," (they say) not
penned, but dictated, by such as know right well the most
secret cabals and intrigues of the Conclave : " Nam propius
fama est hos tangere Divos " ; which I can easily impute more
to the fault of the place, than of the man. The oblation of
the Body and Blood of Christ is sold ; fastings and peniten
tiary works are sold, — " qui non potest jejunare per se, potest
z [Seep. 56, note h.] signifies a "removal from hand to
a Chemnit., Exam. Concil. Trident. hand" (Johnson), as, e. g., by appeal
[P. iv. p. 87, a.] from a lower court to a higher.]
b [A full account of the payments to c Mantuan. [De Calamit. Tempor.,
the Papacy from England may be seen lib. iii. vv. 101. 120 — 122.]
in Twysden's Histor. Vindic., c. iv. d [Viz. Innocent X., who died in
Devolution, more correctly devolution, 1655.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 181
jejunare per alium, vel potest dare nummum pro jejunio ;" the DISCOURSE
merits of the Saints being alive are sold, their relics being —
dead are sold ; scapulars and monastic garments are sold.
The Jews with their oxen, sheep, and doves, were but petty [John u.
merchants in comparison of these great bankers. Did any
man desire a pall ? the law itself did direct them what to do,
"Pallium non datur nisi fortiter postulanti e" — ' the pall would
not be given but to those that knocked hard ' with a silver
hammer. Was any man a suppliant to the Court of Rome ? [Testimony
Matthew Paris puts him into a right way ; " Tune Sedes clemen- Paris!]
tissima, qua nulli deesse consuevit dummodo albi allquid vel
rubei intercedat} prcescriptos Pontiflces et Abbates ad pristinas
dignitates misericorditer revocavit f " — " then the most pitiful
See, which is not accustomed to be wanting to any suppliants,
so they bring white or yellow advocates along with them, did
mercifully restore the said Bishops and Abbots to their
former dignities." It is almost incredible, what a mass of
treasure they collected out of England in a short time only
from investitures and some other exactions from Bishops ; in
four years, no less than a hundred and sixty thousand pounds
sterling, as was found by inquisition £. Archbishop Cranmer
paid for his Bulls that concerned his consecration, and pall,
nine hundred ducats h ; to such a height were the extortions
of the Roman Court mounted. 'Ex ungue leonem ;' — judge
by this what the Pope's yearly income or revenue out of
England might be, by all these arts which we have formerly
mentioned, and many more; sometimes under pretence of
recovering the Holy Land; sometimes to relieve the poverty
of the Roman Court ; sometimes in palfries ; sometimes in
forged bills of exchange ; sometimes in extorted subsidies ;
03 sometimes to a certain sum ; sometimes to the fifth part of
their goods ; sometimes to the third part of residents and the
half of non-residents ; sometimes in yearly revenues, as two
prebends of every Bishop, and the value of the maintenance
of two monks from every Abbot ; sometimes out of the goods
of rich clergymen who died intestate; sometimes a year's
e [Gratian., Decret, P. i.] Distinct. year of Cranraer's Archbishopric, A.D..
100. c. 2. 1532. "Four" is a mistake for
f In Hen. I. an. 1130. [p. 59.] "forty."]
g Antiquit. Britann. Eccles., p. 326. h [Ibid. p. 327.]
[The inquisition v/as made in the. first
182 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART wages for payment of soldiers, some five, some ten, some
1 fifteen, according to their estates ; sometimes in jewels : of all
which he that desires to be more fully informed, needs but to
read Matthew Paris, who describes the abuses and extortions
of the Roman Bishops graphically throughout his history.
And in one place * he bemoans the condition of England in
these words : " Erat igitur videre dolorem praecordialem genas
sanctorum irrigare, querelas erumpere, suspiria multiplicare,
dicentibus multis cum singultu cruentato, melius est nobis mori
quam videre mala gentis nostrce et sanctorum. VCR Anglice,
qute quondam princeps provinciarum, domina gentium, speculum
Ecclesia, religionis exemplum, nunc fact a est sub tributo.
Conculcaverunt earn ignobiles, et facta est in prcedam degene-
ribus, &c." — cc Therefore a man might see sorrow of heart
water the eyelids of holy men, complaints break out, and
groans multiplied, many saying with bloody sighs, It is
better for us to die than to see the misery of our nation and
of holy persons. Woe be to England, which once was the
Princess of Provinces, the Lady of Nations, the glass of the
Church, a pattern of Religion, but now is become tributary.
Ignoble fellows have trodden her under foot, and she is made
a prey to base persons."
[of Grost- Neither was this the complaint of the vulgar only : all
shop 'of1' conscientious men were of the same mind. Who hath not
Lincoln.] hear(;[ of ^he bitter complaints and free declamations of
Grosthead the learned and religious Bishop of Lincoln,
against the tyranny and rapine of the Roman courts, both
in the time of his health, and upon his death -bed ; for which
he was styled ((Romanorum malleus^" — " The hammer of the
Romans ? " whereby he so much irritated the Pope, that he
would have deposed him, and accursed him in his life time,
if he had not been dissuaded by his Cardinals in respect of
the learning and holiness and deserved reputation of the
Bishop l ; and after his death would have had his corpse dis
interred and buried in a dunghill, but that the Bishop
appeared to him the night before, and gave him, or seemed
to give him, such a shrewd remembrance, partly with words,
and partly with his crosier-staff, that the Pope was much
* Matth. Paris, in an. 1237. [p. 4-38.] ' Id. in an. 1253. [pp. 872. 875,
* Id. in an. 1253. [p. 876.] 876.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 183-
terrified and half dead, so that he could neither eat nor drink DISCOURSE
the day following m.
The Pope excommunicated Sewalus the Archbishop of [of Sewa-
York with Bell, Book, and Candle ; but " non curavit volun- bishopV
tati Papali relicto juris riff ore muliebriter obedire ; quapropter, Y
quanta magis pracipiente Papa maledicebatur, tanto plus a
populo benedicebatur, tacite tamen, propter metum Romano-
rum u " — " he cared not to submit womanishly to the Pope's
will, leaving the strait rule of the law ; wherefore the more he
was accursed by the Pope's command, the more he was blessed
of the people, but secretly for fear of the Romans/' In his
last sickness he summoned the Pope before the Tribunal of
the high and incorruptible Judge, and called Heaven and
earth to be his witnesses how unjustly the Pope had oppressed
him : — " Dixit Dominus Petro" &c. " The Lord said unto
St. Peter, feed my sheep ; not clip them, not flay them, not
unbowel them, not devour them °."
They who desire to know what opinion the English had of
the greediness and extortion of the Court of Rome, may find
them drawn out to the life by Chaucer in sundry places P.
Such thriving alchy mists were never heard of in our days,
nor in the days of our forefathers, that with such ease and
dexterity could change an ounce of lead into a pound of gold.
So they had great reason to say of England that it was a
" well that could not be drawn dry <*." And England had as
much reason to whip these buyers and sellers out of the [John ii.
Temple. This complaint is neither new nor particular, as we
shall see further in due place.
2. The second ground of our ancestors' separation of them- Our second
selves from the Court of Rome, were their most unjust usurpa- [Viz. the
tions, and daily encroachments and intrenchments, and ex-
treme violations of all sorts of rights, civil and ecclesiastical, J
sacred and profane. of rights, by
They endeavoured to rob the king of the fairest flowers of Of Rome.]
his crown : as of his right to corivocate Synods, and to confirm [Of th«
Synods, within his own dominions; of his legislative and the king.]
m Id. in an. 1254. [p. 883.] non eviscera, vel devorando consume."]
n Id. in an. 1257. [p. 956.] p Ploughman's Tale, and elsewhere.
0 Id. in an. 1258. [p. 969. " Pasce q [" Puteus inexhaustus." Matth.
oves Meas; non tonde, non excoria, Paris., as quoted in p. 131, note a.]
184
A JUST VINDICATION OF
A^R T judiciary power in ecclesiastical causes ; of his political juris-
- diction over ecclesiastical persons ; of his ecclesiastical feuds
and investitures of Bishops ; of his just patronages of churches
founded by his ancestors ; and of the last appeals of his sub- 94
jects. And, as if all this had been too little, taking advantage
of King John's troubles, they attempted to make the royal
Sceptre of England feudatory and tributary to the Crosier-staff
of Rome at the annual rent of a thousand marks r. Neither
is this the case of England alone, seeing they make the like
pretensions in matter of fact almost to all Europe r : — to say
nothing now of that dominion, which some of them have
challenged indirectly, others directly, over sovereign princes ;
" Nos imperia, regna, principatus, et quicquid habere mortales
possunt,auferre ct dareposses" — "We have power to take away
and to give empires, kingdoms, principalities, and whatsoever
mortal men can have ;" because I confess that it is not gene
rally received by the Roman Church.
Blackwell> made Archpriest of England by Clement the
scanduiiz- Eighth, cites* Cardinal Allen, with much honour to his
doctrine of memory, but much scandalized at his doctrine, that none can
be admitted king of England without the Pope's leave. His
words are these; "Without the approbation of the See
Apostolic, none can be lawful king or queen of England, by
reason of the ancient accord made between Alexander the
Third the year 1171 and Henry the Second then king, when
he was absolved for the death of St. Thomas of Canterbury,
—that no man might lawfully take that crown, nor be ac
counted as king, till he were confirmed by the sovereign
Pastor of our souls which for the time should be : this accord
afterwards being renewed about the year 1210 by King John,
who confirmed the same by oath to Paiidulphus the Pope's
legate at the special request and procurement of the Lords
and Commons, as a thing most necessary for preservation of
the realm from unjust usurpation of tyrants, and avoiding
other inconveniences which they had proved, and might easily
fall again into by the disorder of some wicked king V To
[L. Andrewes,] Episcop. Eliensis. < Large Examin. [of G. Blackw.,
[Resp. ad Apolog. Card. Bellarm., c. iii. Lond. 1607.] pp. 18, 19.
pp. 72-82-87, Loud. 1610.] u Admonit. tc the Nobility by Card.
5 Platin. in Vita Gregor. VII. [p. Allen, [publ. in] 1588. [p. 8. as quoted
169,1.] byBlackwelL]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 185
which lie adds with the like disapprobation a like testimony of DISCOURSE
Stanislaus Christanovic x, a Polonian author, who infers upon
the former ground that the Pope may depose the king of
England, as being but a tributary king : his words are these ;
" Illud impie legislatores per jusjurandum extorquent a Catho-
licis" &c. — "The law-makers do impiously by an oath extort
this from Catholics, to deny that the king may be deposed by
the Pope and his kingdoms and countries by him disposed of.
For if by an honourable and pious grant the kingdom have
become tributary to the Pope, why may he not dispose of it ?
Why may he not depose the prince being refractory and dis
obedient ?" Thus a bold stranger altogether ignorant of our
histories and of our laws shoots his bolt at all adventures upon
the credit of a shameful fiction. But from whom did they
learn this lesson? Even from the Pope himself. Bishop
Grosthead had been a little bold with the Pope for his ex
torting courses, calling him "Antichrist," and "murderer
of souls 7," and comparing the Court of Rome to "Behemoth, [Job xi.
that putteth his mouth to the river Jordan thinking to drink
it up," and styling the oppression of the English nation an
" Egyptian bondage z." He had good reason ; for the Court
of Home in those days was grown past shame (" rubore depo
sit o a"), and consequently past grace. The Pope irritated with
this usage breaks out into this passionate expression, " Nonne
rex Anglorum noster est vasallus, et, ut plus dicam, manci-
plum ?" — " Is not the king of England our vassal, or rather
our slave b ? " Or rather are these fit guests to be entertained
in a kingdom that make no more of our sovereign princes
than their vassals and slaves, who can neither be admitted
to the crown without their leave, nor hold it but by their
grace ?
This relation of Cardinal Allen brings to my remembrance
the question of Neoptolemus to Ulysses, when he should have
taught him the art of lying, ' how it was possible for one to
tell a lie without blushing c ? ' The Archpriest is much more
Exam. Catholic., fol. 34. [as quoted violence of the Pope mentioned lower
by Blackwell.] down.]
y [Matth. Paris, in an. 1253. p. 871.] • Id. in an. 1244. [p. 622.]
z [Id. p. 870. These la'ter expres- b Id. in an. 1253. [p. 862.]
sioris however were used by Grosthead c [" TI&s ovv 0\f-rrwv ns ravra ro\-
upon his death-bed, subsequently to the /Lo'jaet AdAetf;" Soph., Philoct., 110.]
186 A JUST VINDICATION OF
ingenuous, affirming d that the " assertions touching both the
said kings for matter of fact were untrue ; that Henry the
Second never made any such accord with Alexander the
Third, for ought that he could ever read in any chronicle of
credit ;" then that "the oath which Henry the Second did take
for himself" (not for his heirs) was this, that he " would not
depart from him or his successors, so long as they should in-
treat him as a Catholic king6;" that "the fact of King John
is of more probability, but of as little truth," which he confirms
by the testimony of Sir Thomas More, a Lord Chancellor of
England, a man of extraordinary learning, of great parts, of
so good affections to the Roman See, that he is supposed to
have died for the Pope's supremacy f, and is commended by
Cardinal Bellarmine to Mr. Blackwell s as a martyr, and a
guide of many others to martyrdom, " cum ingenti Anglica.
nationis gloria" certainly one who had as much means to know
the truth, both by view of records and otherwise, as any man 95
living: thus writeth he, "If he" (the author of the Beggars'
Supplication) " say, as indeed some writers say, that King John
made England and Ireland tributary to the Pope and the See
Apostolic by the grant of a thousand marks ; we dare surely
say again, that it is untrue, and that all Home neither can
shew such a grant, nor ever could : and if they could, it were
nothing worth; for never could any king of England give
away the realm to the Pope, or make the land tributary,
though he would h."
[Case of As to that of Henry the Second, without doubt the Arch-
priest had all the reason in the world for him. Cardinal
Allen did not write by inspiration, and could expect no more
credit than he brought authority. There is a vast difference
between these two ; that ' no man shall be accounted king
of England, until he be confirmed by the Pope/ and this
other, that ' the king in his 'own person would not desert the
Pope, so long as he intreated him like a Catholic king.'
The former is most dishonourable to the nation, and diame
trically opposite to the fundamental laws of the land. The
d [Larg. Exam. pp. 19, 20.] g Epist. Card. Bellarm. ad G.Blackw.
e Hog. Hoved., Annal. [p. 529.] Archpr. [prefixed to the Large Examin-
f [See p. 121, notes x, y; and the ation.]
Life of Sir T. More in Wordsw., Eccles. h Supplic. of Souls, p.
Biogr.,vol. ii. pp. 166-168.] by Blackw., pp. 20, 21.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 187
latter we might take ourselves without offence to God or our DISCOURSE
own consciences. But to make our kings their vassals and —
their slaves, to impoverish their realm, and to commit all
those exorbitant misdemeanours against them, which we have
related in part, and shall yet describe more fully, was neither
to intreat them like Catholic kings, nor like Christian kings,
nor yet like political kings.
And for his St. Thomas of Canterbury, we do not believe
that the Pope's canonization, or to have his name inserted
into the calendar in red letters, makes a Saint. We do
abominate that murder as lawless and barbarous, to sprinkle
not only the pavements of the church, but the very altar
with the blood of a Prelate ; and we condemn all those who
had a hand in it : but we do not believe that the cause of
his suffering was sufficient to make him a martyr, namely, to
help foreigners to pull the fairest flowers from his prince's
diadem by violence, and to perjure himself, and violate his
oath given for the observation of the Articles of Clarendon.
All his own suffragan Bishops were against him in the cause,
and justified the king's proceedings ; as appeareth by two of
their letters, one to himself, the other to Pope Alexander the
Third *. The barons of the kingdom reputed him as a traitor:
" Quo progrederis proditor ? expect a, et audijudicium tuum ;" —
"whither goest thou, traitor? stay, and hear thy judgment k."
This is certain, — the first time, that ever any Pope did chal
lenge the right of investitures in England, was in the days of
Henry the First ; and Paschal the Second was the first Pope
that ever exacted an oath from any foreign Bishop, above
eleven hundred years after Christ ^ Before that time they
evermore swore fealty to their prince. " De homagiis, defeudis,
de sacramentis Episcoporum, laicis antea exhibitis m . . . " —
" There was great consultation about the homage, and fealty,
and oaths of Bishops, in former ages sworn to laymen."
These new articles of faith are too young to make martyrs.
Concerning the second instance of King John, though I [Case of
attribute much to the authority of Sir Thomas More in that
case, who would never have been so confident unless he had
1 Hoveden, in Annal. [pp. 509-511.] c. iii. § 49, 50.]
k Idem, [p. 495.] m Platin. in Vita Paschal. II. [p.
1 [See Twysden's Histor. Vindicat., 176, 2.]
188 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART supposed that lie had searched the matter to the bottom,
- yet his zeal to the Papacy, and his unwillingness to see snch
an unworthy act proceed from that See, might perhaps mis
lead him; for I confess sundry authors do relate the case
otherwise : — that there was a prophecy or prediction made by
one Peter a hermit, that the next day to Ascension Sunday
there should be no king in England ; that Pope Innocent the
Third, being angry with King John, excommunicated him,
interdicted the kingdom, deprived him of his crown, absolved
his subjects from their allegiance, animated his barons and
Bishops against him, gave away his realm to Philip king of
France, sent Pandulphus as his legate into England to see all
this executed ; the king of France provides an army accord-
ingty ; but the crafty Pope underhand gives his legate secret
instructions to speak privately with King John, and if he
could make a better bargain for him and draw him to submit
to the sentence of the Pope, he should act nothing against
him, but in his favour ; they do meet ; King John submits •
the Pope orders him to resign his crown and kingdoms to the
See of Rome ; so (they say) he did, and received them the
next day of the Pope's grace as a feudatory at the yearly rent
of a thousand marks for the kingdoms of England and Ire
land, and did homage and sware fealty to Pope Innocent11.
But whereas the Cardinal adds upon his own head, that this QQ
was done " at the special request and procurement of the Lords
and Commons," it is an egregious forgery, and well deserves a
whetstone ; for ' all the three Orders of the Kingdom, Bishops,
Barons, and Commons, did protest against it in Parliament,
notwithstanding any private contract that might be made by
King John ; and that they would defend themselves by arms
from the temporal jurisdiction of the Pope °/ But the other
answer of Sir Thomas More is most certain and beyond all
exception, that, if either Henry the Second or King John had
done any such thing, it was not worth a rush, nor signified
any thing but the greediness and profaneness of these pre
tended Vicars of Christ, who prostituted and abused their
office and the power of the Keys to serve their base and ava-
" Mattli. Paris, an. 1212, 1213. [pp. saecul. xiv. c. 5., citat. a Sancta Clara,
232, sq.] [p. 412.]
o Harpsf. [Hist. Eccles. Anglic.] ad
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 189
ricious ends, and lets the world see how well they deserved to DISCOURSE
be thrust out of doors. What ? that ' no man might be '•
crowned, or accounted king of England, until he were con
firmed by the Pope?' By the law of England, 'rex non
moritur' — ' the king never dies:' and doth all acts of sove
reignty before his coronation as well as after P.
They robbed the nobility of their patronages, those [Of the
churches which their ancestors had founded and endowed the no-
being by provisions from Borne frequently conferred upon 1 1 y'-*
strangers, which could not speak one word of English nor did
ever tread upon English ground ; insomuch that at one time
there were so many Italians beneficed in England, that they
received more money yearly out of it than all the revenues of
the crown, to the high disservice of Almighty God, the great
scandal of religion, the decay of hospitality, and the utter
ruin of the English Church a.
But the least share of their oppressions did not light upon [of the
the Bishops, who by their dispensations, and reservations of the Bi-
cases, and of pensions, and exemptions, and inhibitions, and Bh°P?-.
visitations, and tenths, and first-fruits, and provisions, and
subsidiary helps, were impoverished and disabled to do the
duties of their function. They take their aim much amiss
who look upon Episcopacy as a branch of Popery, or a device
of the Bishop of Rome to advance his own greatness.
Whereas the contrary is most certain, that the Pope is the
greatest impugner of Bishops, and the Papacy itself sprung
from the unjust usurpation of their just rights. Let it be
once admitted, that Bishops are by Divine right, and in
stantly all his dispensations, and reservations, and exemptions,
and indulgences, and his conclave of Cardinals, and the whole
Court of Rome, shrink to nothing. This was clearly per
ceived by both parties in the ventilation of that famous
question in the Council of Trent, concerning the Divine right
of Bishops, proposed by the Almains, Polonians, and Hun
garians, seconded braArely by the Spaniards, prosecuted
home by the French, owned by the Archbishop of Paris as
the doctrine of [the] Sorbonne, and only crossed by the
Italian faction, to preserve the glory of their own country
p [Coke upon Littleton, Pt. i. 9, b.] [p. 667.] Epist. Univ. Angl. ad Inno-
q Matth. Paris., in Hen. III. an. 1245. cent. [IV.]
190
A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART
I.
[Of the
rights of
the peo
ple.]
The third
ground,
[viz. that
such
foreign ju
risdiction
so exer
cised was
destructive
to ecclesi
astical dis
cipline.]
and the advantages which that nation doth reap from the
Papacy r : — by whose frowardness and prevarication (in all
probability) the reunion of the Church, and the universal
peace of this part of Christendom in necessary truths, was
hindered at that time.
I presume the case was not so very ill in foreign parts, but
yet ill enough. Or otherwise St. Bernard would not have
made so bold with Eugenius, adding that, if the days were
not evil, he would speak many more things, — " Why do you
thrust your sickle into other men's harvest?" &c.s He
complains of the confusion of appeals, how they were admitted
contrary to law and right, beside custom and order, without
any distinction of place, or manner, or time, or cause, or
person. He complains further of the exemption of Abbots
from their Bishops, Bishops from their Archbishops, Arch
bishops from their Primates. And this he styles "murmur et
communem querimoniam Ecclesiarum" — <e the murmuring and
common complaint of the Churches V
Lastly, they cheated and impoverished the people by their
dispensations, and commutations, and pardons, and indulg
ences, and expeditions to recover the Holy Land, and jubilees,
and pilgrimages, and Agnus Dei's, and a thousand pecuniary
artifices : so as no sort of men escaped their fingers.
3. The third ground of their separation from Rome was,
because they found by experience that such foreign jurisdic
tion so exercised was destructive to the right ends of ecclesi
astical discipline, which is in part to preserve public peace
and tranquillity, to retain subjects in due obedience, and to 97
oblige people to do their duties more conscientiously. Far
be it from any Christian to imagine that policy is the spring
head of religion. There never was yet any one nation so
unpolitic and brutishly barbarous, but they had some reli
gion or other. They who obeyed no governors but their
parents, paid religious duties to some God ; they who wanted
clothes to their backs, wanted not their sacred ceremonies ;
r [Fra. Paolo's Hist, of the Counc. s Bernard., DeConsiderat. [in Papam,
of Trent, bk. vii. pp. 587, 595, 604, lib. i., ap. Goldast., Monarch. S. Rom.
634; bk. viii. pp. 735, 737. Eng.Transl. Imp. torn. ii. p. 70.]
of 1640. E. Du Bellay was then Bishop t [Ibid.] lib. iii. [ap. Goldast., ibid,
of Paris ; which was not an Arch- pp. 78-80.]
bishopric until 1622.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 191
they who were without municipal laws, were subject of them- DISCOURSE
selves to the law of conscience. But, where religion hath - : -
lost its influence and vigour by contempt, and much more
where the influence of religion is malignant, where policy and
religion do not support one another, but interfere one with
another ; societies are like castles builded in the air, without
any firm foundation, and cannot long endure ; like as that
single meteor Castor appearing without Pollux portends an
unfortunate voyage u. ' Let us flatter ourselves as much as
we please' (said Tully to the Romans), ' we have not over
come the Spaniards in number, nor the Gauls in force, nor
the Carthaginians in craft, nor the Grecians in art, nor the
Italians in understanding ; but the advantage which we have
gained over them was by religious piety V So great an in
fluence hath religion upon the body politic.
Wherefore our ancestors, having seen by long and costly
experience, that the tyrannical jurisdiction of the Roman
Court, instead of peace and tranquillity did produce disunion in
the realm, — factions and animosities between the crown and the
mitre, intestine discord between the king and his barons, bad
intelligence with neighbour princes, and foreign wars ; having
seen a stranger solicited by the Pope either to destroy them
by war, or to subdue them to the obedience of the Roman
Court ; having seen their native country given away as a prey
to a foreign prince, Philip of France, and the Pope well near
seated in the royal chair of Estate, for him and his successors
for ever, to the endless dishonour of the English name and
nation, by the cheating tricks of Pandulphus his legate ;
having seen English rebels canonized at Rome and made
Saints ; it was no marvel if they thought it high time to free
themselves from such a chargeable and dangerous guest.
Fourthly; besides the former bad influence of foreign juris- The fourth
diction upon the body politic, they found sundry other incon- [viz. the
veniences that incited them to separate from Rome. They
must have been daily subject to have had new Creeds and new ™hich adr
* * herence to
articles of Faith obtruded upon them ; they must have been the Pope
daily exposed to manifold and manifest peril of idolatry, and involved
sinning against God and their own consciences ; they must us'^
have forsaken the communion of three parts of Christendom,
u [Plin., Nat. Hist., lib. ii. c, 37.] * [De Haruspic. Resp., c. 9.]
192 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART whicli are not Roman, to join with the fourth ; they must have
- — — : - approved the Pope's apparent rebellion against the supreme
ecclesiastical power, that is, a general Council ; and their
Bishops must have sworn to maintain him in these his re
bellious usurpations. Whether they should prefer their
native and Christian liberty, or give them up for nothing;
whether they should preserve their communion with the
Catholic Church, or with the Court of Rome ; whether they
should desert the Pope, or involve themselves in rebellion,
schism, sacrilege, and perjury ; — the choice was soon made.
Cround^L 5* Las% ' tne7 see tliat tlie Popes had disclaimed all that
viz. the just pOAver which they had by human right, and challenged
challenge to themselves a spiritual monarchy or sovereignty by Divine
tuaimon" ri&n* j whereby their sufferings, which in themselves were
archyby unsupportable, were made also irremediable, from thence.
Divine
right.] Wherefore they sought out a fit expedient for themselves, being
neither ignorant of their old Britannic exemption and liberties
of the English Church, nor yet of the weakness of the Roman
pretences. Our progenitors knew well enough that their
authority extended not to take away any the least particle of
Divine right, if there had been any such. Nor could they
justly be accused of violating that human right, which had
been quitted long before ; nor be blamed rightly for denying
obedience to him, from whose jurisdiction they were exempted
by the canon of an (Ecumenical Council, and who had himself
implicitly renounced that ecclesiastical right which he held
from the Church.
[No defect Perhaps some may conceive a defect in the manner of pro-
manner of cceding of the king and Church of England, — that they did
ma^e a remonstrance of their grievances, and seek
andChurch redress of the Pope himself. So the Council of Tours thought
iand.f it fit. "Visum est tamen Concilia, ante omnia miitendos legates
ad D. Papam Julium" &c. " It seemeth good to the Council, 98
that in the first place messengers be sent from the French
Church to the Pope, who may admonish him with brotherly
love and according to the evangelical form of correction, to
desist from his attempts and to embrace peace and concord
with the princes. But if he will not hear the messengers, let
him be demanded to convocate a free Council, according to
the decrees of the holy Council of Basle. And this being
THE CHURCH OP ENGLAND. 193
done, and his answer received, further provision shall be made DISCOURSE
according to right y."
To this I answer ; —
1. First, that it had been reasonable and just indeed, that CThe
we had made our first address to the Pope, if we acknowledged Bishops
the Roman Bishop to be our lawful Patriarch ; but the same Lawful Pa-
respect is not due to an usurper : triarchs.]
2. Secondly, we have seen by frequent experience, how vain [Addresses
and fruitless such addresses have proved from time to time, proved
According to the former advice of the Council of Tours, Sl
the king of France sent ambassadors to Home ; but the Pope
" refused to hear them, or to convocate any Council," and once.]
before his death anathematized Maximilian King of the Ro
mans, the kings of France and of Navarre, and divers other
princes, Cardinals, and Bishops; deprived the kings and
princes of their respective realms and principalities, the
Bishops of their dignities and benefices; and gave their
kingdoms and principalities to the first that could take them :
from which sentence they appealed to a future Council z.
The most ancient arbitrary imposition of the Popes upon
the British Churches, was the pall, an honourable, and at
first innocent, ensign of an Archbishop, otherwise of no great
moment ; first introduced in the reigns of the Saxon kings
after the six hundredth year of Christ. But in process of
time it became vendible, and a great sum was exacted for it ;
whereof Canutus long since complained at Rome, and had
remedy promised a, as he well deserved of that See ; but how
well it was observed, the experience of after ages doth mani
fest, when both the price was augmented, and withal an oath
of allegiance to the Pope imposed : — " Electo in Archiepis-
copum Sedes Apostolica pallium non tradet, nisi prius pr&stet
fidelilatis et obedientice juramentum" — "The See Apostolic
will not deliver the pall to an elect Archbishop, unless he
first swear fidelity and obedience to the Pope b." What was
become of their old oath of allegiance to their king ?
y Concil. Turon., an. 1510, in fine. ed. Paris. 1612.] des " Annales d'Aqui-
[ap. Labb., Concil., torn. xiii. pp. 1482, taine [par ,T. Bouchet," P. iv. fol. 147,
1483. The last words are in the original 1. ed. 1 545.]
"prout ejus erit," for which Bramhall a Baron., Annal., torn. xi. [an. 1027.
appears to have read " prout jus erit."] num. 4.]
z Extraict [in Act. lini. Concil. Pisan., b Greg. [Decretal, lib. i. tit. vi.] " De
CRAMIIALL. O
194 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART In the year 1245, the king, the lords spiritual and tem-
poral, and the whole commonwealth of England, joined to
gether unanimously in a complaint, and exhibited their
grievances to Rome : — that ' the Pope extorted more than his
Peter-pence out of the kingdom, contrary to law; that the
patrons of churches were defrauded of their rights, strangers
preferred, souls endangered, their bullion exported, the king
dom impoverished, provisions made, pensions exacted/ that
' the English were drawn out of the realm by the authority
of the Pope, contrary to the customs of the kingdom/ They
complained of 'the coming among them of the Pope's infa
mous messenger, Non obstante, by which oaths, customs,
writings, grants, statutes, rights, privileges, were not only
weakened, but exinanited/ They complained of ' collections
without the king's leave, that hospitality was not kept, the
poor not sustained, the Word not preached, churches not
adorned, the cure of souls neglected, Divine offices not per
formed, and churches ruined by the abuses of the Papal
Court c.' I cannot omit one clause in the letter of the lords
to the Pope, — "nisi de gravaminibus domino regi et regno
illatis rex et regnum citius liberentur, oportebit nos ponere
murum pro Domo Domini, et libertate regni ; quod quidem, ob
Apostolica Sedis reverentiam, hucusque facere distulimus d " —
" unless the king and kingdom be quickly freed from these
grievances, we must make a wall " (of defence or partition)
" for the House of the Lord and the liberty of the kingdom;
which we have hitherto forborne to do out of our reverent
respect of the Apostolic See." They seem to allude to that
wall which Severus made to save the kingdom from the
incursions of the Scots and Picts. Surely that was not
more necessary then, than that wall of partition which
Henry the Eighth made afterwards, to save the realm from
the affronts and extortions and injuries of the Roman Court.
Neither did they make their addresses to the Pope alone,
but to the Council of Lyons, by the proctors of the whole
nobility and commonalty of England, for redress of the
" violent oppressions, intolerable grievances, and impudent
Elect et Elect! Potest." [c. 4. in titulo; printed in Wats' edit., 1245), pp. 698,
et Baron., Amial., torn. xi. an. 1102. 699.]
num. 8.] d Idem> m a
c Matth. Paris, in an. 124[6. (mis-
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 195
exactions, which were practised " in England, " by means of DISCOURSE
99 that hateful clause — non obstante — too often inserted in the —
Pope's letters e." They represented that there were so many
Italians, for the most part ignorant and unlearned, that
understood not one English word, nor did ever tread upon
English ground, beneficed among them, that their yearly
revenue exceeded the revenue of the Crown f. Neither did
they complain only, but threaten and swear that they would
not permit such abuses for the future s. But what ease did
the poor English find by complaining to the Pope either in
Council or out of Council ? Martin the Pope's commissioner
(for he could not send a legate without the king's consent)
extorts, excommunicates, interdicts11; the Pope himself is
angry, because like sturdy children 'they durst cry and
whimper when they were beaten *,' and persuades the King of
France to invade England, and either to depose the king, or
subject him to the Court of Rome, which lost the Pope the
heart of the English. The king [read Pope] told them that
their king began to " kick against him, and play the Fre
deric14." And they threatened, that if he ' persisted, they
should be forced to do that which would make his heart
ache V
After this Edward the Third made his addresses likewise
to Rome for remedy of grievances, in the year 1343m. How
did he speed ? No better than his great grandfather Henry
the Third. The Pope was offended, and termed his modest
expostulation " rebellion." But that wise and magnanimous
prince was not daunted with words ; to requite their invec
tives, he made the statutes of Provisors and Prcemunire™,
directly against the encroachments and usurpations of the
Court of Rome. Whereby he so abated their power in
England for sundry ages following, that a Dean and Chapter
were able to deal with them, not only to hold them at the
sword's point, but to foil them °.
e Idem, in an. 1245. [p. 668.] a mistake for 'Pope.']
f [Idem, ibid.] l [Ibid., p. 701 : in sense.]
e Ibidem [p. 681.] m Walsingh., [Hist. Brevis, in an.
h [Id. an. 1244. pp. 644, 645. an. 1343.] pp. [149-152.]
1245. p. 657.] n [25Edw.III.Stat.6.§3.— 27Edw.
i Id. an. 1246. [p. 691.] III. Stat. i. c. 1.]
k [Ibid. p. 709. The word 'king' ° [Seep. 141, note q.]
in the beginning of the sentence is
196 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART 3. Lastly, King Henry the Eighth himself had been long a
suitor unto Clement the Seventh, to have his predecessor Julius
vYiThim- the Second's dispensation for his marriage with his brother's
suIfcelfuT wife to ^e declared void- But> though the Pope's own doctors
suitor to and Universities had declared the dispensation to be unlawful
viL]ent and invalid ; and although the Pope himself had once given
forth a Bull privately to his legate Cardinal Campeius for the
revocation thereof, wherein he declared the marriage to be
null, and that the king could not continue in it without sin? ;
yet the king found so little respect either to the condition of
his person, or to the justice of his cause, that after long delays,
to try if he could be allured to the Pope's will, in the conclu
sion he received a flat denial. This was no great encourage
ment to him to make any more addresses to Rome. So what
was threatened and effected in part in the days of Henry the
Third and Edward the Third, was perfected in the reign of
Henry the Eighth; when the jurisdiction of the Court of
Rome in England was abolished, which makes the great dis
tance between them and us. Different opinions are often
devised or defended on purpose to maintain faction. If ani
mosities were extinguished, and the minds of Christians free
from prejudice, other controversies might quickly be reconciled,
and reduced to primitive general truths. The power para
mount of the Court of Rome hath ever been, and still is, that
" insana laurus^" which causeth brawling and contention,
not only between us and them, but between them and the
Eastern Churches, yea, even between them and those of their
own communion, as we shall see in the next chapter; yea,
the original source and true cause of all the separations and
reformations made in the Church in these last ages ; as all
the estates of Castile did not forbear to tell the Pope himself
not long since in a printed memorial r, and the kingdom of
Portugal s likewise. To conclude this point ; — these former
kings, who reigned in England about the years 1200 and
1300, might properly be called the first reformers; and
their laws of Provisors and Pramunire's, or more properly
P See the copy of the Bull [dated lica,' [Philip IV., to Urban VIII.,]
16 Dec. 1527.] in Anti-Sanderus. [pp. an. 1633. [See below pp. 230, 231.]
200, &c. Cantab. 1593.] s Lusitanise Gemitus. p. 43. [See
* [Plin., Nat. Hist, lib. xvi. c. 89.] below p. 22 K notes g, h.]
r ' Memorial de Sa Magestad Cato-
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 197
prcem onere's, the beginning of the Reformation. They laid DISCOURSE
the foundation, and Henry the Eighth builded upon it.
III. Now, havinsr seen the authority of our Reformers. The mo-
. deration of
and the justice of their grounds, in the last place let us ob- the English
serve their due moderation in the manner of their separation,
1. First, they did not, we do not, deny the being of any
Church whatsoever, Roman or other, nor possibility of salva- ration].
tion in them, especially such as hold firmly the Apostles' Creed, they nor
and the Faith of the four first general Councils; though their Jh
salvation be rendered much more difficult by human inven- °f,any
J other
tions and obstructions. And by this very sign did St. Cyprian Churches,
purge himself and the African Bishops from schism ; — " Ne- biiity of
minemjudicantes, aut a jure communionis aliquem, si diver sum 01
100 senserit, amoventes*-" — "judging no man, removing no man
from our communion, for difference in .opinion." We do in
deed require subscription to our Articles, but it is only from
them who are our own, not from strangers ; nor yet of all
our own, but only of those who seek to be initiated into Holy
Orders, or are to be admitted to some ecclesiastical prefer
ment : so it is in every man's election whether he .will put
himself upon a necessity of subscription or not. Neither are
our Articles penned with anathemas or curses against all
those, even of our own, who do not receive them ; but used
only as a help or rule of unity among ourselves. ' Si quis
diver sum dixerit' — if any of our own shall speak, or preach,
or write against them, we question him. But ' si quis diversum
senserit' — if any man shall only think otherwise in his
private opinion, and trouble not the peace of the Church, we
question him not. We presume not to censure others to be
out of the pale of the Church, but leave them to stand or fall
to their own Master. We damn none for dissenting from
us ; we do not separate ourselves from other Churches, unless
they chase us away with their censures, but only from their
errors. For clear manifestation whereof, observe the thirtieth
canon of our Church; — "it was so far from the purpose of
the Church of England to forsake and reject the Churches of
Italy, France, Spain, Germany, or any such like Churches, in
all things which they held and practised, &c. that it only
1 [Act.] Concil. Carthag. [VIII. Cypr., Op. p. 229.]
A. D. 256.], De Baptiz. Hacret. [ap.
198
A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART
I.
[Roman
Catholics
answered
who lay
hold on
this our
charitable
assertion.]
departed from them in those particular points wherein they
were fallen both from themselves in their ancient integrity,
and from the Apostolical Churches, which were their first
founders u." So moderate are we towards all Christians,
whether foreigners or domestics, whether whole Churches or
single persons.
But because the Roman Catholics do lay hold upon this
charitable assertion of ours, as tending mainly to their ad
vantage : — behold (say they), Protestants do acknowledge a
possibility of salvation in the Roman Church ; but Roman
Catholics deny all possibility of salvation in the Protestant
Churches ; therefore the religion of Roman Catholics is much
safer than that of Protestants (hence proceeded their treatise
of " Charity Mistaken x," and sundry other discourses of that
nature, wherein there are mistakes enough, but little charity) :
— for answer, if this objection were true, I should love my
religion never the worse ; where I find little charity, I look
for as little faith : — but it is not true ; for when the business
is searched to the bottom, they acknowledge the same possi
bility of salvation to us, which we do to them, that is, to such
of either Church respectively as do not err wilfully, but use
their best endeavours to find out the truth. Take two testi
monies of the Bishop of Chalcedon y ; — ' if they ' (that is, the
Protestants) ' grant not salvation to such Papists as they
count vincibly ignorant of Roman errors, but only to such as
are invincibly ignorant of them, they have no more charity
than we ; for we grant Church, saving Faith, and salvation,
to such Protestants as are invincibly ignorant of their
errors ;' and in his book of the Distinction of Fundamentals
and not-Fundamentals, he hath these words, — ' if Protestants
u [Canon. 1603.] Can. 30.
x [" Charity Mistaken, with the
want whereof Catholics are unjustly
charged, for affirming, as they do, that
Protestancy unrepented destroys Sal
vation." 8vo. 1630, by Matthew Wil
son, a Jesuit, under the assumed name
of Edw. Knott. See the art. upon him
under the latter name in Dodd, Ch.
Hist., vol. iii. pp. 106, 107.]
y Protest. Plain Confession, ch. xiii.
pp. 151, 152. — [Distinction of Funda
mentals and not Fundamentals.] ch. ii.
p. 62. [These appear to be the two
books of the Bishop of Chalcedon
(Smith) quoted before in the Answ. to
La Millet., p. 79. They are mentioned
by Dodd (Ch. Hist, vol. iii. p. 78.) as
his and as published in 1645 ; but are
not to be met with either in the Bod
leian Library, the British Museum, or
Sion College. The title of the first as
given by Dodd is, " The Protestants'
Plain Confession that the Roman
Church is the Head of the Church of
God, and that in her is a saving Faith,
&c."]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 199
allow not saving Faith,, Church, and salvation, to such as DISCOURSE
sinfully err in not-fundamental s sufficiently proposed, they —
shew no more charity to erring Christians than Catholics do.
For we allow all to have saving Faith, to be in the Church,
in way of salvation (for so much as belongeth to Faith),
who hold the fundamental points, and invincibly err in
not-fuiidamentals, because neither are these sufficiently
proposed to them, nor they in fault that they are not so
proposed/
2. Secondly, as our separation is from their errors, not from [Our sepa-
their Churches, so we do it with as much inward charity and ma(ie with
moderation of our affections, as we can possibly ; willingly
indeed in respect of their errors, and especially their tyranni-
cal exactions and usurpations, but unwillingly and with re- bie.]
luctation in respect of their persons; and much more in
respect of our common Saviour : as if we were to depart from
our father's, or our brother's house; or rather, from some
contagious sickness wherewith it was infected : not forgetting
to pray God daily to restore them to their former purity, that
they and we may once again enjoy the comfort and content
ment of one another's Christian society. We pray for their
conversion publicly in our Litany in general, and expressly
and solemnly upon Good Friday ; though we know that they
do as solemnly curse us the day before. If this be to be schis
matics, it were no ill wish for Christendom that there were
many more such schismatics.
3. Thirdly, we do not arrogate to ourselves either a new [We do not
101 Church, or a new religion, or new Holy Orders ; for then we ourselves
must produce new miracles, new revelations, and new cloven
Tongues, for our justification. Our religion is the same it ^ newreii-
was, our Church the same it was, our Holy Orders the same gion, or
they were, in substance ; differing only from what they were Orders?/
formerly, as a garden weeded from a garden unweeded ; or a
body purged, from itself before it was purged. And therefore,
as we presume not to make new articles of Faith, much less
to obtrude such innovations upon others, so we are not
willing to receive them from others, or to mingle scholastical
opinions with fundamental truths. Which hath given occa
sion to some to call our religion a negative religion ; not con
sidering that our positive articles are those general truths,
200 A. JUST VINDICATION OF
p A H T about which there is no controversy. Our negation is only
- of human controverted additions.
[We arc 4. Lastly ; we are ready in the preparation of our minds to
Se^eand believe and practise,, whatsoever the Catholic Church (even
wtouhe °f this present age) doth universally and unanimously believe
Churchlbe an<^ Prac^se- " Qu°d apud multos unum invenitur, non est
lieves and erratum, sed traditum z." And though it be neither lawful
nor possible for us to hold actual communion with all sorts of
Christians in all things, wherein they vary both from the
truth, and one from another, yet even in those things we
hold a communion with them fin our desires/ longing for
their conversion and re-union with us in truth.
CHAP. VII.
THAT ALL PRINCES AND REPUBLICS OF THE ROMAN COMMUNION DO IN
EFFECT THE SAME THING WHEN THEY HAVE OCCASION, OR AT LEAST DO
PLEAD FOR IT.
So we are come to our fifth conclusion — that, whatsoever
the king and Church of England did in the separation of
themselves from the Court of Rome, it is no more than all
sovereign princes and Churches (none of whatsoever commu
nion excepted) do practise or pretend as often as they have
occasion.
[Protestant And first ; for all Protestant kings, princes, and republics,
it admits no denial or dispute.
[The Secondly; for the Grecian and all other Eastern Churches,
Churches ^ can ^e no more doubted of than of the Protestants ; since
they never acknowledged any obedience to be due from them
to the Bishop of Rome, but only an honourable respect, as
to the prime Patriarch and 'beginning of unity/ Whose
farewell or separation is said to have been as smart as ours
and upon the same grounds, in these words — " we acknow
ledge thy power, we cannot satisfy thy covetousness, live by
yourselvesV
z Tertxill., [Lib. de] Prescript, [adv. Unit. Gracor.," [Consider. 7ma., Op.]
Ilreret., Op. p. 241. C.] P. iv. [fol. 114. O. " Potentiam tuam
a Gerson, " Serm. [Coram Reg. recognoscimus ; avaritiam tuam implere
Franc." (scil. Carol. VI.)] "de Pace ct non possumus ; vivite per vos."]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 201
But my aim extends higher, to verify this of the Roman DISCOURSE
Catholic princes and republics themselves, as the emperor, rRo^tl •
the most Christian and Catholic kings, the Republic of Catholic
Tr . States.]
Venice, and others.
I. To begin with the emperors. I do not mean those [I. The
ancient Christian primitive emperors, who lived and nourished German C
before the days of Gregory the Great. Such a Court of Rome EmPcrors-]
as we made our secession from, was not then in being, nor
the college of Parish-Priests at Rome turned then into a
Conclave of Cardinals, as ecclesiastical princes of the (Ecu
menical Church. So long there was no need of any sepa
ration from them, or protestation against them. But I
intend the later emperors since Gregory's time, after the
Popes sought to usurp an universal sovereignty over the
Catholic Church; and more particularly the Occidental, that
is to say, the French and German, emperors.
Yet the reader may be pleased to take notice, that the The case of
case of our kings is much different from theirs in two nouhe'1
respects. »«j*.,
First ; they believed the Roman Bishop to be their lawful Germany
Patriarch (whether justly or not, is not the subject of this respects],
present discourse), but we do utterly deny his Patriarchal
authority over us ; and to demonstrate our exemption, do
produce for matter of right, that famous canon of the general
102 Council of Ephesus, made in the case of the Cyprian Bishops;
and for matter of fact, the unanimous votes of two British
Synods and the concurrent testimonies of all our histo
riographers. Some have been formerly cited : we might add
to them the ancient British history, called by the author
thereof Brutus, wherein he relates this answer of the British
to Augustine, — " Se Caerleonensi Archiepiscopo obedire vo-
luisse, Augustino autem Romano legato omnino noluisse, nee
Anglis inimicis et paulb ante paganis (a quibus mis sedibus
pulsi erant] subesse se, qui semper Christiani fuerunt, vo-
luisseb ;" — " that they would obey the Archbishop of Caer-
leon" (that was their British Primate, or Patriarch), "but
*> Cap. 98. [as quoted and trans- cle,' or " Fructus Temporum ;" and is
lated by Caius, Antiq. Acad. Cantab., not older than the reign of Edward IV.
lib. i. p. 74. The book intended, which See Hearne's edit, of Caius, vol. ii. p,
was printed by Caxton in 1480, is 802 Bale, Cent. viii. num. 43.]
usually known as ' Caxton' s Chroni-
202 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART they would not obey Austine the Bishop of Rome's legate :
'• neither would the Britons, who had evermore been Christians
from the beginning, be under the English, who Avere their
enemies, and but newly converted from paganism, by whom
they had been driven out of their ancient habitations." The
same history is related by sundry other very ancient authors c.
A second difference between our English kings and the
later German emperors is this, that our kings by the funda
mental constitutions of the kingdom are hereditary kings,
and never died: so there is an uninterrupted succession with
out any vacancy. But the emperors are elective, and con
sequently not invested in the actual possession of their
sovereignty without some public solemnities; whereof some
are essential, as the votes of the electors ; some others cere
monial, as the last coronation of the emperor by the Bishop
of Rome, which was really, and is yet titularly, his imperial
city. But the Popes, who had learned to make their own
advantage of every thing, sacred or civil, took occasion from
hence to make the world believe that the imperial crown was
their gift, and the emperors their liegemen. So Adrian the
[A.D.i 158.] Fourth doubted not to write to Frederick Barbarossa the
emperor, — " Insigne corona beneficium tibi contulimus ;" which
was so offensively taken, that (as the German Bishops in
their letter to the same Pope do affirm) ' the whole empire
was moved at it, the ears of his Imperial Majesty could not
hear it with patience, nor the Princes endure it, nor they
themselves either durst or could approve it e/ Whereupon
the Pope was forced to expound himself, that by " beneficium"
he meant nothing but " bonum factum" — a good deed ; and
by " contulimus" nothing but " imposuimus" — that he had put
the crown upon him. So the emperor complains in his letter
to the Bishops, — " A picturd cmpit, a picturd ad scripturam
processit ; scriptura in authoritatem prodire conatur" fyc. —
" It began with painting, from painting it proceeded to writing,
and at last they sought to justify it by authority. We will
c [Johannes] Grams [Oxfordius], Cantab., lib. i. p. 74.]
in " Scalae Chronicou." [See Bale, d [See p. 189, note p.]
Cent.iii. num. 42.] — Gocelinus, in Hist. e [In Adrian. IV. Epist. ad Episcop.
Majore [S. Augustini Cantuar., c. iii. German., A. D. 1158.] ap. Goldast.,
§ 35, inter Acta SS. per Bolland. Die Constitut. Imperial., impressse Franco-
xxvi. Maii.],— &c. [as referred to, with furti an. 1607, P. i. p. [61.]
many others, by Caius, Antiq. Acad.
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 203
not" (said he) " suffer it, we will not endure it, we will rather DISCOURSE
lay down our imperial crown, than suffer the empire itself to —
be deposed with our consent. Let the pictures be defaced,
let the writings be retracted, that perpetual monuments of
enmity between the Sceptre and the Mitre may not con
tinue f." Thus Pope Adrian failed of his design: but his
successor John the Twenty- Second renewed the Papal claim [A.D.1323.]
against Ludovicus the Fourth, in higher terms, as appeareth
by his own Bull, wherein he affirms, that ' after the translation
of the Roman Empire from the Grecians to the Germans by
his predecessors the Popes/ ' summus ille honor beneficium
Pontificis Maximi esse solet ;' — 'the empire used to be the
Pope's gift -j adding, that the elections of the German
princes were invalid, unless the Pope (" universi orbis Chris-
tiani Pater atque Princeps, Dei Optimi Maximi Legatus, . . .
suo numine faveat et aspiret ") should approve it ; and, finally,
commanding the emperor fto quit his crown and imperial
dignity, and not to reassume them but by his command '
" nisi jussu et m,andato nostro s." But the emperor appealed ;
the Electors and other Princes protested against the Pope's
pretended power ; and the emperor and all the States of the
empire made a solemn constitution against ith. This was
the second repulse, yet the Popes were not so easily shaken
off. It fortuned about the year 1400, that the Electoral
College deposed Wenceslaus from the empire, and chose
Rupert Prince Palatine in his place; communicating the
whole business, whilst it was in agitation, to the Pope, to
have his spiritual advice and the countenance of the Apostolic
See, but yet reserving the power entirely to themselves.
Howsoever Pope Boniface the Ninth lays hold of this oppor
tunity, and declares by his Bull, that the Electors did it ' by
his authority' — " author it ate nostra suffulti ;" and confirms
the said deprivation as good and lawful {.
This uncertainty of succession and this Papal pretension
103 made sundry emperors more fearful to grapple with the
Popes, or to right themselves from their grievous exactions
f [Id.,] Ibidem, [pp. 62, 63.] Francofurtensibus [A. D. 1338, ap.
g [Bulla Job. XXII.] dat. Avinionse eundem, ibid. pp. 98-100.]
an. 1323, ap. Goldast.,ibid. P. i. p. 98. I Goldast., [ibid. P. i.]pp. 142[-143.
h In Comitiis Reinensibus et A. D. 1401.]
204 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART and usurpations. In the year 1455,, ' after the death of
~ Nicholas the Fifth, the Germans bewailed their condition to
Frederic the Third, and sought to persuade him that he
would no longer obey the Roman Bishops, unless they would
at least give way to a Pragmatical Sanction for the mainten
ance of the liberties of the German nation ; like that of the
French kings for the privileges of the Gallican Church. They
shewed that their condition was much worse than the French
and Italians, whose servants (especially [of] the Italians)
without a change they were deservedly called V " Rogabant,
urgebant proceres, populique Germanics, gravissimis turn ratio-
nibus turn exemplis, turn utilitatem turn necessitatem imperil"
&c. — ( the Princes and people of Germany intreated, and
pressed both the advantage and necessity of the empire.
They implored his fidelity, they prayed him for his oath's
sake, and to prevent the infamy and dishonour of their
nation, that they alone might not want the fruit of their
national decrees, that he had as much power, and wras as
much obliged thereunto, as other kings/ &c. 1 " Nee certe
procul abfuit" &c. — "it wanted not much/' saith Platina™.
Molina3us goes further, — "his rationibus victus et permotus
imperator," &c. — "the emperor being overcome and moved
with these reasons, was about to make as full a Sanction for
his subjects, as the king of France had done for his V What
hindered him ? Only the advice of ^Eneas Sylvius, who per
suaded him rather to comply with the Pope, than with his
people, upon this ground, that " princes disagreeing might
be reconciled, but between a prince and his people, the enmity
was immortal/' " Motus kdc ratione imperator, spretd popu-
lorum postulatione, JEneam oratorem deligit, qui ad Callistum
mitteretur " — " the emperor, being moved with this reason,
despising the request of his people, sends the same ^Eneas as
his ambassador to Callistus °." The truth is this ; the
emperor feared the Pope, and durst not trust his own sub
jects : whence it proceeded, that seven years before his death
he not only procured his son Maximilian to be crowned King
k Platin., in Vita Pii II. [p. 306, 1.] Op. Jurid., torn. iii. pp. 4-81. E. 482. A.]
1 Carol. Molinaeus in ' Commentariis m Platin., ibidem,
[ad Edict. Ilenr. II., &c. et in Senatus- n Molin., ibidem. [§ G. p. 482. A.]
coiisulta Francioe c. alms. Papar.,* § 5, ° Platin., ibidem.
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 205
of the Romans, but also took him to be his companion in the DISCOURSE
empire, " ne post obitum suum (ut factum fuisset] transferretur — —
imperium in aliam familiam :" — " lest the empire after his
death (as without doubt it had come to pass) should have
been transferred into another family P."
Yet, notwithstanding these bars or remoras, the uncertainty [Yet the
of succession, and Papal pretensions, the emperors have done have done
as much in relation to the Court of Rome, as the kings of reMior^to"
England. the Court
of Rome, as
1. First : Henrv the Eighth within his own dominions did the kings of
P ,. , . ,. , a , England.]
exercise a power of convocatmg ecclesiastical Synods, con
firming Synods, reforming the Church by Synods, and sup
pressing upstart innovations by ancient canons.
The emperors have done the same. Charles the Great called Emperors
the Council of Frankfort, consisting of three hundred Bishops : Synods ;
witness his own letter to Elipandus ; — " Jussimus Sanctorum
Patrum Synodale ex omnibus undique nostrce ditionis Ecclesiis
congregari Concilium" — "we have commanded a Synodical
Council to be congregated out of all the Churches within our
dominions :" neither did he only convocate it, but confirm it and con-
also ; — " Ecce ego vestris petitionibus satisfaciens, congregationi s™ods ;
Sacerdotum auditor et arbiter adsedi. Discernimus [lege De-
cernimus] et Deo donante decrevimus quid esset de hac inquisi-
tione firmiter tenendum " — " Behold I, satisfying your re
quests " (that is, of the Elipandians and Fselicians, who made
Christ but an adoptive Son of God), " did sit in the Council
both as a hearer, and as a judge. We determine and by the
gift of God have decreed what is to be held in this inquiry q."
And it is very observable how he disposed the resolutions of
this Council into four books ; the first book contained the
sense of the Roman Bishop and his suffragans ; the second of
the Archbishop of Milan and the Patriarch of Aquileia with
the rest of the Italian Bishops ; the third, the votes of the
German, French, and British Bishops ; the last, his own con
sent. The Romans had no more part therein than others, to
set down their own faith, and to represent what they had
p Molin., [ibidem, p. 48'2. D.] [" Decernimtts" is Goldastus' correction
q [Carol. M., Epist. ad Elipand., (Rationale C. I., p. 12) ; from whom
Tolet. Civ. Episc., A. D. 794,] apiul apparently it was adopted in the folio
Goldast., [C. I. ed. 1G07.] P. i. p. 3. edit, of Ahp. Bramhall.]
206 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART received from the Apostles r.— Neither did they only convo-
— cate Councils, and confirm them, bnt in them and by them
them re- reformed innovations, and restored ancient truths and orders.
Ch™rechthC So did the same emperor;— "By the counsel of our Bishops
and nobles we have ordained Bishops throughout the cities,
and do decree to assemble a Synod every year, that in our
presence the canonical decrees and laws of the Church may
[A.D.816.] be restored8." Ludovicus Pius convocated a Council at
Aquisgrane to reform the abuses of the clergy, and confirmed
the same, and commanded the constitutions thereof to be put
in execution, as appeareth by his own epistle to Arno Arch- 104
[A.D.9G3.] bishop of Salzburg *. Otho the First called a Council at
Rome, and caused John the Twelfth to be deposed, and Leo
the Eighth to be chosen in his place. The sentence of the
Council was, — " Petimus magnitudinem Imperil vestri" &c. —
"we beseech your Imperial Majesty, that such a monster
may be thrust out of the Roman Church." And the emperor
confirmed it with a "placet" — "we are pleased u." Henry
[A. D. the Fourth called a German Synod at Worms, and another
lose.] of Germans and Italians at Brixia, wherein sentence of de
privation was given against Gregory the Seventh, and con
firmed by the emperor. " Quorum sententice quod justa et
probabilis coram Deo hominibusque videbatur, fyc., ego quoque
assentiens omne tibi Papatus jus quod habere visus es abrenun-
cio," &c. ' ' Ego Henricus, Rex Dei gratia, cum omnibus Epi-
scopis nostris tibi dicimus, Descende, descended — "To whose
sentence, because it seemed just and reasonable before God
and men, I also assenting, do declare thee to have no right
in the Papacy, as thou seemest to have." " I Henry, by the
grace of God King of the Romans, with all our Bishops do
say unto thee, Descend from thy seat, descend*." So
[A.D.I 160.] Frederic the First called a Council at Papia, to settle the
right succession of the Papacy, wherein Roland the Cardinal
was rejected, and Victor declared lawful Bishop of Rome.
And all this was done with due submission to the emperor : —
" Christianissimus Imperator" &c. — " The most Christian
Emperor, in the last place, after all the Bishops and clergy,
r Ibidem. 12, 13.
s Capitul. lib. v. [seep. 172, note r,] u Idem, [ibid.] P. i. p. 34.
1 Goldast, [C. I. ed. 1607.] P. i. pp. x Idem, [ibid. P. i.] pp. 45. 50.
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 207
by tlie advice and upon the petition of the Council, received DISCOURSE
and approved the election of Victor y." I will conclude this —
first part of the parallel with the words of the same emperor
in the same Council ; — ee Quamvis noverim officio ac dignitate
Imperil penes nos esse potestatem congregandorum Conciliorum,"
&c. — " although I know, that, by virtue of our office and im
perial dignity, the power of calling Councils rests in us, espe
cially in so great dangers of the Church ; for both Constaii-
tine and Theodosius and Justinian, and of fresher memory
Charles the Great and Otho, emperors, are recorded to have
done this ; yet I do commit the authority of determining this
great and high business to your wisdom and power z ;" that
is, to the Bishops there assembled.
But it may be objected, that the emperors with their The Eng-
Synods never made any such schismatical reformation, as formation
that which was made by the Protestants in England. madca"8"
I answer,
First, that the schism between the Roman Court and the [The
English Church (other schism I know none on our parts), ^before
was begun long before that reformation, in the days of Henry J.he Ro:
the Eighth, and the breach sufficiently proclaimed to the
world, both by Romish Bulls, and English statutes. We
could not be the first separators of ourselves from them, who
had formerly thrust us out of their doors. It is not schis
matical to substract obedience from them to whom it is not
due, who had extruded us out of their society: but it is
schismatical to give just cause of substraction.
Secondly, I answer, that there was a great necessity of [Great ne-
reformatioii both in Germany and England. For proof reformat
whereof I produce two witnesses beyond exception, the one a Germany1"
Pope, the other a Cardinal. The former is Adrian the Sixth, and ^ng-
in his instructions to his legate in the year 1522, which the [Testimo-
Princes of the Empire take notice of in their answer. His IS the
words are these ; — " Scimus in hac sanctd Sede aliquot jam Sixth-l
annis multa abominanda fuisse" &c. — " We know that, for
some by-past years, many things to be abominated have been
in this holy See, abuses in spiritual matters, excesses in com
mands, and, to conclude, all things out of order ; &c. wherein,
y Idem, [ibid.] P. i. p. 70. peratoris, lib. ii. c. [64.]
z Radevic., De Gestis Frider. I. Im-
208 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART for so much as concerns us, thou shalt promise that we will
~ use all our endeavour, that first this Court, from Avhence
peradventure" (sure enough) ee all the evil did spring, may be
reformed ; that as corruption did flow from thence to the in
ferior parts" (of the Church), " so may health and reformation.
To procure which, we do hold ourselves so much more strictly
obliged, by how much we do see the whole world greedily
desire such a reformation a." " O Adriane, si nunc viveres !"
[Testimo- The other witness is Cardinal Pole, who makes two main
dinai ends of the Council of Trent ; the one, the reconciling of the
T> 1 "I
Lutherans ; the other, " Quo pacto ipsius Ecclesice pr&eipua
vel potius omnia fere membra, ad veterem disciplinam et insti-
tuta} a quibus non parum declindrunt, revocentur ;" — " to con
sider how the principal members of the Church, or rather
almost all the members, might be reduced to their ancient
discipline and ordinances, from which they had swerved 105
much b." Yet, when himself was sent afterwards by Paul the
Fourth to reform the Church of England c, it scemcth that
he had forgotten those great deviations of the principal mem
bers, and those very representations, which he himself, with
eight other selected Cardinals and Prelates, had made upon
oath to Paul the Third. Then he saw, that this ' lying flatter
ing principle/ that " the Pope is the lord of all benefices and
therefore cannot be a simoniack," was the fountain, " Esc quo
tanquam ex equo Trojano irrupere in Ecclesiam Dei tot abusus
et tarn gravissimi morbi" &c. — t{ from which, as from the
Trojan horse, so many abuses and so grievous diseases had
broken into the Church of God," ' and brought it to a despe
rate condition, to the derision of Christian religion and blas
pheming of the name of Christ :' and {< that the cure must
begin there, from whence the disease did spring d," by taking
away all abuses in dispensations of all kinds, and ordinations,
and collations, and provisions, and pensions, and permutations,
and reservations, and coadjutorships, and expectative graces,
and unions, and non-residence, and exemptions, and absolu-
a Golclast, [ibid.,] P. ii. pp. 29, 31. * Consil. delect. Cardinal, [de
b Regin. Polus, De Concilio, [in Emend. Ecclcs., Paulo III. jubente
fin.], fol. 86, 1. [edit. Venet. 1562.] conscriptum,] edit. Lutetiae anno 1012,
c Reformatio Angliae, [by Card. pp. 131, &c. [et in Append, ad Fascic.
Pole], edit. Venet. 1562. [fol. 94, 2. Her. Expetend. et Fugiend., p. 231.]
95, l.J
esaon*e
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 209
tions, and all such pecuniary artifices : because " it is not
lawful by any means to reap any gain from the exercise of -
the power of the Keys." " Tollantur" (say they) " hce maculae"
8$c. — "Let these spots be taken away, to which if any en
trance be given in any commonwealth or kingdom what
soever, it must needs fall headlong, instantly or very shortly,
to ruin e."
Thirdly, I answer, that the emperors and the German [The Ger-
Church did not only desire a reformation, (as appeareth by perore did
the letter of Sigismond the emperor to the king of France,—
" Maximo desiderio jamdudum tenebamur" &c. — " We have j£
long desired greatly to see the only Spouse of Christ, the effect, a re-
Catholic Church, happily reformed in our days, but after we A.^iTii.
were assumed to the imperial government, our desire passed
into command f," &c.; and [by] the "Advices of Constance/' [A.D.uie]
conceived by the deputies of the German nation in that
Council against some special abuses of the Pope and his
Cardinals s ; and by the "Advices of Mentz, made and con- [A.D.1427]
eluded in that city by the States of the Empire, in the time
of the Council of Basle," for preserving the authority of
general Councils, for relief from grievances, for procuring of
conditions from the Pope, for preservation of their just
liberties, and for prevention of the abuses and excesses
and extortions of the Roman Court h; and by the ({ Hundred [A.D.1522]
Grievances of the German Nation," proposed to the Pope's
legate by the Princes and lords of the Roman Empire against
the injuries, extortions, and usurpations of the See of Rome,
and the encroachments and oppressions of ecclesiastical courts
and persons1 : and, lastly, by the gracious promise of Charles [A.D.1552]
the Fifth to ' hold a Diet within half a year, wherein it
should be resolved, what way the differences in religion
should be settled and quieted, whether by a general or
national Council, or imperial Diet k' :) — neither did the em
peror and the German nation only endeavour to reform, but
they did in some measure actually reform, the excesses of the
e [Ibid.] p. 140. [et in Append, ad h Idem, [ibid., P. i.] pp. 155[-159,
Fascic. Rer. &c., pp. 231-234.] in an. 1427.]
f Goldast, [C. I. ed. 1607.] P. i. * Idem, [ibid.] P. ii. pp. 36[-58, in
p. 146., in an. 1415. ann. 1522, 1523.]
e Idem, [ibid., P. i.] pp. 149[-151, * Idem, [ibid.] P.ii. p. 177. ["Trans-
in an. 1416.] act. Patav." &c. c. i. § 1. A.D. 1552.]
BRAMHALL. P
210 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART Roman Court, and other ecclesiastical abuses and innova-
— tions ; as it hath already been verified of Charles the Great,
[The Con- and Ludovicus Pius. This appeareth yet more plainly by the
cordats, ,, Concorciats " (as they are styled) " of the German Nation
[A.D. 1576] with Gregory the Thirteenth1;" and the agreements of
Frederic the Third and the Princes of the Empire with Pope
[A.D. 1447] Nicholas the Fifth m; whereby the excesses and abuses of the
Roman Court are something abated and reduced; and by
[A.D.1436] the "Ghostly or Ecclesiastical Reformation" made by Sigis-
mond the emperor in the year 1436, containing thirty-seven
chapters or articles, for regulating the Pope and his Court,
Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, Suffragans, Abbots, monks,
friars, nuns, and all sorts of ecclesiastical or religious per
sons n. (I cannot here omit a witty answer of this emperor,
as he was deliberating with some ecclesiastical persons about a
reformation, and one said it must begin with the Minimes.
No, said he, " non a Minoritis, sed a Majoritis " — " not with
the Minimes, but with the Maximes," or great ones, ' that is,
[The in- the Pope and the Cardinals °/ and the Court of Rome.) This
appears also by the Interim, or ' Declaration of Religion' made
by Charles the Fifth, attested with his imperial seal, and ac
cepted and approved by the States of the Empire, assembled
in a Diet at Augsburg, May 15 in the year 1548, where the
whole exercise of religion is established " until the definition
of a Council " (I produce it not to shew what it was, but what
power the emperor did assume in point of religion) ; wherein
these words are contained, — " Quod autem in supradictd de-
claratione sub rubricd, de ceremoniis et usu Sacramentorum inter
alia dicitur, ' in quas tamen si quid irrepsit quod causam dare
possit super stitioni, tollatur,' reservat sibi soli CasareaMajestas,"
&c. — " and whereas in the aforesaid declaration, under the
rubric of ceremonies and the use of the Sacraments, among
other things it is said, 'into the which nevertheless, if any
thing have crept that may administer occasion of superstition,
let it be taken away,3 his imperial Majesty doth reserve unto
himself alone in this and the like articles, where and as often
1 Idem, [ibid.] P. i. pp. 207[-209 n Idem, [ibid. P. i.] pp. 170[-187.]
" Concordata," &c.] ° Catal. Testium Veritatis, [a M.
m Idem, [ibid. P. i.] pp. 211[-212, Flaccio Illyrico, lib. xix. p. 1877. B.C.,
in an. 1417.] eel. Genev. 1608.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 211
as it shall be needful, now and hereafter, the right to correct, DISCOURSE
to add, to detract, as it shall seem just and equal to himself, —
according to the present exigence of affairs P." Lastly, this [The de_
appeareth by the declaration of Ferdinand the emperor, made ^ ^m" °f
in the year 1555, in favour of the Augustan Confession, and perorFer-
,-, « dinand.l
the professors thereof 9.
2. Secondly, the kings of England, in their great Councils,
did make themselves the last judges of the liberties, and
grievances, and necessities, of their people, even in cases
ecclesiastical, — riot the Pope. They had reason. In vain is
the Court of Rome's determination expected against itself.
The emperors did the same. So Lodovic the Fourth, in his The em-
" Apology against Pope John the Twenty-second/' declareth
that ' the Pope ought not, cannot, be a competent judge in
his own cause r.' The Pope challenged such a confirmation judges of
of the emperor, without which his election was invalid. The liberties
emperor determined the contrary, in the Diet of Frankfort, sSfes^and
an. 1338 : — " Declaramus quod imperialis dignitas est immediate ^t!|j.ose of
a solo Deo" &c. — "We declare, that the imperial dignity is people].
immediately from God alone ;" ' and that election gives a suffi
cient title •/ ' and that the Pope's approbation or disapproba
tion signifies nothing s.' The Pope attempted to divide Italy
from the German empire by his fulness of power. The emperor
declares the act to be invalid, and of no moment *. When the
Princes and States of the Empire had presented the hundred [A. D. 1522]
grievances of the German nation to the Pope's legate, they
add this conclusion : " Quod si enumerata onera atque grava
mina" &c. — " But if the abovesaid burdens and grievances
be not removed within the time limited, or sooner, from the
eyes of men, and abolished and abrogated (which the lay-
states of the empire do not expect), then they would not have
his Holiness to be ignorant, that they neither can nor will
bear or endure the aforesaid most pressing and intolerable
burdens any longer u," but find out other means of ease, and
vindicate their former liberties and immunities. As the
sense of their sufferings was their own, so they would have
p Goldast, [C. I. ed. 1607.] P. ii. p. * Idem, [ibid., P. i.] p. 99.
109. [in Declarat. Procemio, § 12.] ' t [Idem, ibid., P. i. pp. 102-104.]
q Idem, [ibid.] P. ii. pp. 197, 198. u Idem, [ibid.] P. ii. p. 58.
r Idem, [ibid.] P. i. p. 103.
p 2
212 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART the remedy to be their own, and not leave the cure to a
PA D 1338] tyrannic^ court. To this add the protestation and the oath
of the electoral College, and the other Princes of the Empire,
mentioned in their letter to Benedict the Twelfth : — " Quod
jura, honores, bona, libertates, et consuetudines imperil" &c. —
" That they would maintain, defend, and preserve inviolated,
with all their power and might, the rights, honours, goods,
liberties, and customs, of the empire, and their own electoral
right belonging to them by law or custom, against all men,
of what pre-eminence, dignity, or state soever " (that is to
say, in plain terms, against the Pope and his Court), " not
withstanding any perils, or mandates, or processes, whatso
ever x," — that is, notwithstanding any citations, or Bulls, or
excommunications, or interdictions, from Rome. Take but
[A.D.1648] one instance more : Ferdinand, the present emperor, out of
an unavoidable necessity, to extinguish the flame of a bloody
intestine war and to save the empire from utter ruin, con
tracts a peace with the king of France, the Swedes, and their
adherents ; whereby sundry Bishoprics and other ecclesiasti
cal dignities were conferred upon Protestants ; lands and
other hereditaments of great value were alienated from the
Church in perpetuity; free exercise of their religion was
granted to those of the Augustan Confession ; annates, con
firmations, and other pretended Papal rights, were abolished.
The Pope's extraordinary nuncio protested against it. And
Pope Innocent himself, by his Bull bearing date Nov. 26 in
the year 1651, declared "the contract to be void, annulled it, and
condemned it" as " injurious and prejudicial to the orthodox
religion, to the See of Rome, and to the rights of Holy Church,"
" notwithstanding the municipal laws" and " immemorial
customs" of the empire, and " notwithstanding any oaths"
taken for the observation thereof y. Yet the emperor and the 107
Princes of Germany stand to their contracts, assert the muni
cipal laws and customs of the empire, and assume unto them
selves to be the only judges of their own privileges and
necessities z.
x Idem, [ibid.] P. i. p. 100. [in an. beck, Ultraj. 1653.]
1338.] z [Heydegger, Hist. Papat., Period.
y Bulla Innocent. [X.], impressa vii. § 258, 259.— Jager., Hist. Eccles.
Ilorase anno 1651 : [et in fine " Exam. et Polit. sec. XVII, lib. viii. c. 2.]
Bull. Papal. Innoc. X." a J. Hoorn-
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 213
3. Thirdly, Henry the Eighth challenged to himself the DISCOURSE
patronage of Bishoprics, and investitures of Bishops, within — —
his own dominions.
The emperors did more. Adrian the Fourth taxed Frederic Emperors
i -t f -I., c -r»- i enjoyed in-
the First for requiring homage and fealty ot Bishops, — vestitures.
" et manus eorum sacratas manibus tuis innectis," — and that [A-D-1157]
'he held their consecrated hands in his hands/ The em
peror denied it not, but justified it ; — (c Ab his qui regalia
nostra tenent, cur homagium et regalia sacramenta non exi-
gamus?" — "Why may we not require homage and oaths
of allegiance from them, who hold their lands of our imperial
crown a?" The ecclesiastical lords, in their letter to Inno- [A.D.1200]
cent the Third, do acknowledge, that " the fees which they
held from the empire, they had received at the hands of
Otho the Fourth, and had done him homage, and sworn
fealty to him b :" and this before his imperial coronation at
Rome. Henry the Fifth goes yet further, and accuseth Pope [A.D.I no]
Paschal, that without any hearing he sought to take aAvay
from the empire the investitures of Bishops, which " the em
perors his predecessors had enjoyed from the time of Charle
magne by the space of four hundred years and upwards c :"-
a fair prescription. But this is not all. The emperors did
long enjoy the patronage of the Papacy itself, and the dispo
sition of the Roman Bishopric. Adrian the First, with the [A.D.774.]
whole clergy and people of Rome, quitted all their claim,
right, and interest, to Charles the Great, as well in the elections
of Popes, as investitures of Bishops d. And Leo the Eighth [A.D.964]
did the like to Otho the First e ; which is a truth in history so
apparent, that no man can deny it with his credit, nor ques
tion it with reason.
4. Fourthly, the kings of England suffered no appeals to
Rome out of their kingdoms, nor Roman legates to enter
into their dominions without their license.
No more did the emperors, though they acknowledge the Emperors
Roman Bishop to be their Patriarch, which we do not. Ha- JJiUdedle-
drian the Fourth complained of Frederic the First, that " he gates, &c. ;
a [Goldast, C. I.] P. i. pp. 58, 59. 1110.]
b Idem, [ibid., P. i.] p. 72. [in an. d Idem, [ibid., P. i.] p. 1.
1200.] e Idem, [ibid., P. L] pp. 34[-37. in
c Idem, [ibid., P. i.] p. 53. [Consti- an. 964.]
tut. Henr. V. de Investituris, A. D.
214 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART shut botli the churches and the cities of his kingdom against
the Pope's legates a latere ;" — and more fully in his letter to
* the German Bishops,, that *f he had made an edict/' that c ' no
man out of his kingdom should have recourse to the Apostolic
Seef." To the former part of the charge the emperor
answers,, — " Cardinalibus vestris clauses sunt ecclesia, et non
patent civitates, quia non videmus eos prcedicatores , sed pr&-
datores ; non pads corroborates, sed pecuniae raptores ; non
orbis reparatores, sed auri insatiabiles corrasores :" — " our
churches and cities are shut to your Cardinals, because we do
not see them preachers, but robbers ; not confirmers of peace,
but extorting catchers of money ; not repairers of the world,
but insatiable scrapers together of gold £." Thus much he
wrote to the Pope himself. To the second part of the charge
he answers, that " he had not shut up the entrance into Italy
or the passage out of Italy by edict, nor would shut it up to
travellers, or such as had necessary occasions and the testi
mony of their Bishops for their voyage to the See of Home ;
but he intended to remedy those abuses, by which all the
Churches of his kingdom were burdened and impoverished V
That the whole body of the empire were of the same mind, it
[A.D.1427] appears by the Advices of Mentz1; and by the Hundred
[A.D.1522] Grievances of the German nation, which the Princes and
Peers of the Empire protested that they neither could, nor
would, endure any longer J.
5. Fifthly, the kings of England declared the Pope's Bulls
to be void. They had good reason, for they were not under
his jurisdiction, nor within the sphere of his activity.
And neg- The emperors did not so generally, but yet they took upon
Pope^sthe them to be judges whether the Pope's key did err or not. Pius
Bulls, &c. ; f-ne Second by his Bull condemned all appeals from the Pope
A. D. 1459. to a general Council, " as erroneous, detestable," " void, and
pestilent," and subjected all those who should use them after
two months to "execration, ipso facto" of what condition
soever they were, emperors, kings, or Bishops k. Yet long
A. D. 1526. after this Charles the Fifth appealed from Clement the
f Idem, [ibid., P. i.] pp. 58. 61. i cc. 5. 6. 7. 8. [ap. eund., ibid., P.
g [Idem, ibid., P. L] p. 59. ii. pp. 38, 39.]
»> [Idem, ibid., P. i. p. 62.] k [Bulla Pii II.] an. 1459. [§ 3 et 4.
j c. 13. [ap. eund., ibid., P. i. p. ap. eund., ibid., P. i. pp. 212, 213.]
158.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 215
Seventh to a general Council; ' ' Ad sacri generalis Concilii et DISCOURSE
totius Christianitatis cognitionem et judicium remittenda cen- •
suimus ; illique nos et omnia qua cum S. vestrd habere possumus
aut deinceps habituri sumus, omnino subjicimus 1 :" wherein
lie did but insist in the steps of his predecessors. Lewis the [A. D. 1338]
Fourth did the same to John the Twenty- second, and in the
Diet of Frankfort decreed " them all that should assent to the
Pope's Bull to be guilty of treason, and to have forfeited all
108 their fees which they held of the Empire ; because the sen
tence of a Pope contrary to God, or to Holy Scripture, or
to that due obedience which a subject owes to his prince, is of
no moment or validity111." And such the Princes and Peers
of the Empire did unanimously declare the Pope's Bull to be,
— " contra Deum, et justitiam, et juris ordinem " — ' contrary
to God, contrary to Holy Scriptuie, and contrary to due
order of law V
6. Sixthly, Henry the Eighth deprived the Pope of his
annates, tenths, and first-fruits, in England; of his pall-money,
and other extorted revenues.
What did the emperor and Germans less than he ? In And^ seized
the Advices of Mentz it is concluded, that " the Pope shall pretended
receive nothing, either before or after," for confirmations,
elections, admissions, collations, provisions, presentations,
Holy Orders, palls, benedictions, &c. upon pain that the
transgressor thereof, either in exacting, or giving, or pro
mising, " should incur the punishment due to a simoniacal
person0." And though these were but " Advices," yet the
King of the Romans and Electors did covenant mutually to
assist and defend one another in the maintenance of them
against all men0; and, yet further, procured them to be con-
firmed and enlarged in the Council of Basle, by the addi
tion of investitures, Bulls, annates, first-fruits, &c. P This
was too sweet a morsel for the Pope to lose willingly, when
the Archbishop of Mentz paid for his pall (worth about six-
1 Rescript. Carol. V. ad Criminat. P. ° Cap. 10. et in Conclusione, [ap.
Clement VII., anno 1526. [ap. eund., eund., ibid., P. i. pp. 158, 159.]
ibid., P. ii. p. 100.] p [Act Concil. Basil.] Sess. 21.
m Idem, [ibid.,] P. i. pp. 99. 104. [(A. D. 1435), can. 1, ap. Labb.,
[in an. 1338.] Concil., torn. xii. p. 552. B. C. D.]
n Idem, [ibid., P. i.] p. 100.
216 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART pence) thirty thousand florins01.
'- Accord, made between the emperor, and Princes of Germany,
[A.D.1447] and Nicholas the Fifth, the annates are in part remitted, or
[A.D.1522] taken away r. The Estates of the Empire assembled at
Nurenberg represented to Adrian the Sixth, that "annates
were given for maintenance of the war against the Turks," and
1 how comely a thing it were that they should be restored to
the same use/ The Princes added farther, that they were
but granted " for a certain term, which was effluxed s." The
Hundred Grievances rest not here, but say moreover, that
" they were but deposited at Rome, to be preserved faithfully
[A.D.1526] for that use1/' And, lastly, Charles the Fifth, in his Rescript,
tells the Pope, that " other kings do not suffer the spoils of
the Churches and annates to be transported out of their
kingdoms to Rome, so universally, and so abundantly n"
7. Seventhly, to draw to a conclusion, Henry the Eighth
imposed an oath of fidelity or allegiance upon his subjects,
ecclesiastical as well as temporal.
And have So did Frederic, the first emperor of that name : — " I swear,
oaths of that from henceforth I will be faithful to my liege lord,
[A?rui58] Frederic, the Emperor of the Romans, against all men " (the
Pope is included, or rather intended principally), " as by law
I am bound ; and I will help him to retain his imperial crown,
and all his honour in Italy," &c. x
8. Henry the Eighth took away Popish pardons, and in
dulgences, and dispensations.
The Ger- The German nation likewise groaned under the burden
against of them. Among their Hundred Grievances, that of dispen-
duigences!" sations was the first ; and that of Papal indulgences the third ;
PA'D 152<>1 e*^ier f°r sms Pas^ or to come, " modo tinniat dextra " (it is
their own phrase) . They call these artifices mere "impostures,"
' by which the very marrow of Germany was sucked up, their
ancient liberty was enervated, and the merit of Christ's Passion
became slighted y/
q [27,000 florins was the sum ex- » Cap. 19. [ap. eund., ibid., P. ii. p.
acted from James, who was Ahp. from 43.]
1504 to 1508 (Goldast., C. I., torn. ii. u Rescript. [Carol. V., &c.], num.
ed. 1609. p. 120).] 44. [ap. eund., ibid., P. ii. p. f>8 ]
r [Goldast., C. I., P. i. pp. 207. 209. x Goldast., [ibid.] P. i. p. 64. [in an.
212.] 1158.]
s [Carol. V. Epist.,c. 3; et Respons. y Gravam. 1. et 3. [ap. eund., ibid.,
Princip. &c., c. 10. ap.] Goldast, [ibid.] P. ii. pp. 36, 37 ;— very loosely trans-
P. ii. pp. 24 et 32. [in an. 1522.] lated.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 217
9. Lastly, Henry the Eighth abolished the usurped juris- DISCOURSE
diction of the Bishop of Rome, within his dominions.
The emperors did not so ; — whether they thought it not fit Emperors
to leave an old Patriarch ; or because they did not sufficiently posed
consider the right bounds of imperial power, especially being appealed^
seconded with the authority of an Occidental Council ; or be- from them,
* &c.
cause they did not so clearly distinguish between a " begin
ning of unity " and an universality of jurisdiction ; or because
they had other remedies wherewith to help themselves; I
cannot determine. But this we have seen, that the emperors
have deposed Popes, and have appealed from Popes to general
Councils, and have maintained their imperial prerogatives
against Popes, and made themselves the last judges of the
liberties and necessities of the whole body politic.
Frederic the Third, in the Diet of Nurenberg, sequestered [A.D.1466]
all the moneys that should be raised in three years from
indulgences and absolutions, whether Papal or Conciliary,
towards the raising of twenty thousand men for defence of
the empire against the Turk2. The resolution of the elect [A. D. 107 7]
Archbishop of Trevers against Gregory the Seventh, was this,
109 — " Ne plus per hunc Sancta, quae modo extremum trahit spiri-
turn, periclitetur Ecclesia, ex me dico, quod nullam ei posthac
obedient/lam servabo" &c. — "lest the holy Church which is
now brought to the last gasp incur more danger by his
means, I speak of myself, that hereafter I will perform no
obedience to him " (that is, Pope Hildebrand) a. Neither was
this his resolution alone. All the German Bishops were of
the same mind : — " Because thy entrance into the Papacy was
begun with so great perjuries; and the Church of God is
brought into such a grievous storm through the abuse of thy
innovations ; and thy life and conversation is soiled with so
manifold infamy : as we promised thee no obedience, so we
let thee know, that for the future we will perform none unto
thcc." " Et quia nemo nostrum (ut publice declamas] tibi hac-
tenus fuit EpiscopuSj it a nulli nostrum a modo eris Apostolicus^'*
— " And as thou hast reputed none of us for Bishops hitherto,
so hereafter none of us will esteem thee for the successor of
z [Decree of Frederic III. at Norcm- a [Idem, ibid., P. i.] p. 47.
berg in 1466,] num. 8, ap. Goldast. b [Idem, ibid., P. i.] p. 48.
[ibid.] P. i. pp. 214, 215.
218 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART St. Peter :" — which sentence was confirmed by the emperor ;
'• " Ego Henricus Rex cum omnibus Episcopis meis tibi dico,
Descende, descende c."
[A.D.1409] The first Council of Pisa did not only substract their obedience
from Peter de Luna, calling himself Benedict the Thirteenth,
and Angelus de Corario, calling himself Gregory the Twelfth ;
but they decreed that it was lawful for all Christians, and
accordingly did command them, to substract their obedience
from them : — of which Council the Council of Constance was
[A.D.15H] a continuation. The second Council of Pisa suspended Julius
the Second from the Papacy, and commanded all Christians
to withdraw their obedience from him. The former had the
consent of the emperor : the latter his assistance and protec
tion ; as appeareth both by the solemn promise of the emperor's
ambassadors made in Council, and the acknowledgment of
the Council itself d.
[Two an- j w{\\ conclude this first part of my parallel, — concerning
German the empire, — with two answers of German Bishops. The first
[A.D.497.] °f the German and French to Anastasius the Second; wherein
they tell him plainly, that " they did not understand that new
compassion, wherewith the Italian physicians used to cure the
infirmities of France •" they tax them for seeking to restrain
" the absolution of souls " to Rome ; they require ' that Italian
Bishop that is without sin to cast the first stone at them •'
they advise them ' not to use their pretended authority against
their Bishops, lest the blow should recoil upon themselves, for
that theirs had not learned to fear above that which was
needful ;' they tell them, that surely they in Italy think that
the Gauls had lost all these three, " verbum, ferrum, et inge-
nium" — " their tongues, their wits, and their weapons •" and
so they conclude, — " Etiamsi inclinata esset area Testamenti
nostri, . . . .nostrorum Episcoporum esset, et non illorum, inclina-
tam relevare" — "although the ark of their Covenant was
falling, yet it belonged to their own Bishops, and not to
them, to lift it up again e." The other answer was of the
c [Idem, ibid., P. i. p. 50.] tion.] — PromotionesConcil. Pisan. [II.,
d [Act. Primi Concil. Pisan. (the A. D. 151 1.], pp. 32. 172. [in fin. Act.
second in Cave's reckoning), A. D. Imi. Concil., ed. 1612.]
1409,] Sess. viii, ix, et ultima; [ed. e Ex schedis Joannis Aventini, ap.
Paris. 1612, pp. 8. 10. 43.— and for the Goldast., in Rationali [ad torn. i. Con-
consent of the emperor (Maximilian), stitut. Imperial.], pp. 48, 49.
the "Testimonia" prefixed to that edi-
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 219
Archbishops of Cologne and Triers with the Synod of Cologne DISCOURSE
to Nicholas the First : wherein, after many bitter expressions,
they have these words; — "His de causis nos cum fratribus
nostris et collegis neque edictis tuis stamus neque vocem tuam
agnoscimus neque tuas Bullas tonitruaque tua timemus " — " For
these reasons we, with our brethren and colleagues, do neither
give place to thy edicts, nor acknowledge thy voice, nor fear
thy thundering Bulls f."
I expect that some will be ready to object, that these sub-
stractions were but personal, from the present Pope, not from
the See of Rome ; which is true in part. But the same equity
and rule of justice, which warrants a separation from the
person of the Pope for personal faults, doth also justify a more
durable separation from the See of Rome, that is, from him
and his successors, for faulty rules and principles, either in
doctrine or discipline, until they be reformed.
II. From Germany our pass is open into France ; where II. The
the case is as clear as the sun, how their kings (though ac- vassals *
knowledged by the Popes themselves to be " most Christian," J^J
"the eldest sons of the Church/' and otherwise the great patrons Court-
and protectors of the Roman See), with their princes of the
blood, their peers, their parliaments, their ambassadors, their
schools and universities, have, all of them, in all ages, affronted
and curbed the Roman Court, and reduced them to a right
temper and constitution, as often as they deviated from the
canons of the Fathers, and encroached upon the liberties of
110 the Gallican Church: whereby the Pope's jurisdiction in
France came to be merely discretionary, at the pleasure of the
king.
Hincmar had been condemned by three French Synods for [The case
a turbulent person, and deposed. Pope Adrian the Second mar.
takes cognisance of the cause at Rome, and requires Carolus A>D> 871'J
Calvus the king of France, to send Hincmar thither with his
accusers, to receive justice. The king's ' Apologetic Answer '
will shew how he relished it. "Valde mirati sumus ubi hoc
dictator epistolae scriptum invenerit, esse Apostolicd authoritate
pr&cipiendum, ut rex, corrector iniquorum et districtor reorum,
atque secundum leges ecclesiasticas atque mundanas ultor crimi-
numy reum legaliter ac regulariter pro cxcessibus suis damnatum,
f [Idem,] ibid., p. 50.
220 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART sud /return potentid, Romam dirigat" — "We wondered much
- where lie who dictated the Pope's letter hath found it
written, as commanded by Apostolical authority, that a king,
who is the corrector of the unjust, the punisher of guilty
persons, and, according to all laws ecclesiastical and civil, the
revenger of crimes, should send a guilty person, legally and
regularly condemned for his excesses, to Rome." He tells
him, that the kings of France were reputed " terrarum domini,"
not "Episcoporum vice-dommi,"or"Villici" — "lords paramount
within their dominions, not lieutenants or bailiffs of Bishops g."
— " Quis igitur hanc inversam leg em infer nus evomuit ? Quis
tartarus de suis abditis et tenebrosis cuniculis eructavit?" —
"What hell hath disgorged this disorderly law ? What
bottomless depth hath belched it up out of its hidden and
obscure holes h?"
[The kings The kings of France have convented the Popes before them.
have con- So Charles the Great dealt with Leo the Third1 ; and Lotharius
With Le° tlie Fourth k.
fore them;] The kings of France have appealed from Popes to Councils.
jSedaP~ So PlliliP tne Fourth, with the advice of all the Orders of
to°CounPeS France and the whole Gallican Church, appealed from Boni-
ciis;] face the Eighth, and commanded his appeal to be published
in the great church at Paris ]. So Henry the Great appealed
from Gregory the Fourteenth, and caused his appeal to be
affixed to the gates of St. Peter's Church in Romem. So the
School of Sorbonne appealed from Boniface the Eighth n, Bene
dict the Eleventh °, Pius the Second P, and Leo the Tenth q.
g Goldast, Constitut. Imperial., P. i. his predecessor Bonif. VIII.; nor was
p. 24. [in an. 871.] there any appeal of the School of Sor-
h [Idem, ibid., P. i. p. 25.] bonne from him. Pithaeus (Traictez
1 [Platin.,in Vita Leon. III., p.l 19,1.] &c. torn. i. p. 20), from whom Bram-
k [Id., in V. Leon. IV., p. 124, 2.] hall quotes, seems to have intended their
1 [Traictez des Libertez de PEglise appeal from Benedict XIII. in 1396
Gallicane, Preuves, c. 7. nos. xiii — xvii. (Du Boxilay, Hist. Univ. Paris., secul.
c. 13. nos. i.— ix.— Du Puy, Hist, du vi. pp. 803, &c.) : See Traictez &c.,
Differendd'entrelePape Bonif. VIII. et Preuves, c. 20. no. xix., and Maillane's
Philippe le Bel &c., Paris. 16-55. folio.] edition of the Traictez, &c., Art. Ixxviii.]
m [Thuan., Hist, lib. ci. § 14 __ Da- p [See the Ann. d' Aquitaine par J.
vila, Hist, delle Guer. Civ. di Franc., Bouchet, Partie iv. fol. 119, 2. (in an.
lib. xii — Mem. de la Ligue, torn. iv. 1467.), quoted in the Traictez &c.,
pp. 358 &c — Traictez &c., Preuves, c. Preuves, c. 13. no. xi.]
4. nos. xxiii. — xxx : where however q [Appellatio Univ. Paris. &c. adv.
nothing is said of St. Peter's.] Concordata Bononiens., A. D. 1517, in
n [Traictez &c., Preuves, c. 13.no. iii. confirmation of the Council of Basle ;
— Hist, du Differend &c., p. 119. An. in the Traictez &c., Preuves, c. 13. no.
1303.] xviii. ; and the Fascic. Rer. Expetend.
0 [Berrdict XI. retracted ihe acts of et Fugiend., pp. 68—71. ed. 1690.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 2.21
The kings of France have protested against the Pope's do- DISCOURSE
crees, and slighted them ; yea, in the very face of the Council
of Trent. Witness that protestation of the ambassador
France, made in the Council in the name of the king his
master. " We refuse to be subject to the commands and dis-
position of Pius the Fourth ; we reject, refuse, and contemn,
all the judgments, censures, and decrees, of the said Pius.
And although (most Holy Fathers,) your religion, life, and
learning, was ever, and ever shall be, of great esteem with us ;
yet, seeing indeed you do nothing, but all things are done at
Rome rather than at Trent, and the things that are here
published are rather the decrees of Pius the Fourth, than of
the Council of Trent; we denounce and protest" here before
you all, (f that whatsoever things are decreed and published in
this assembly, by the mere will and pleasure of Pius, neither the
most Christian King will ever approve, nor the French Church
ever acknowledge to be decrees of a general Council." ' Besides
this, the king our master commandeth all his Archbishops, and
Bishops, and Abbots, to leave this assembly, and presently to
depart hence ; then to return again, when there shall be hope
of better and more orderly proceedings1"/ This was high and
smart, — for the king and the Gallican Church so publicly to
" reject, refuse, and contemn," allPapal decrees, and to challenge
such an interest in, and power over, the French Archbishops
and Bishops, as not only to license them, but to command
them, to depart and leave the Council, whither they were
summoned by the Pope.
The French kings have made laws and constitutions from [H
time to time, to repress the insolencies and exorbitances of
the Papal Court, so often as they began to prejudice the iendes°and
liberties of the Gallican Church, with the unanimous consent exorbit-
ances ot
of their princes, nobles, clergy, lawyers, and commons : — as the Papal
against their bestowing of ecclesiastical dignities and benefices A?D. 1267.
in France, and their gross simony and extortions in that way s ;
against the payment of annates and tenths to Rome, and A.D.1406.
generally for all the liberties of the Church of France * ; against A.D. 1418.
r Goldast., [Constitut. Imperial., torn. Hist. Concil. Gener., lib. iii. c. 7. §1,2.
iii. ed. 1610.] p. 57[3. Sept. A.D. 1563.] — and for this and the laws mentioned
s An. 1267. [viz. the Pragmatic in the three following notes, the De-
Sanction of Louis IX., which is dated fensio Parisiensis Curiae quoted in p.
March, 1268;— Traictez des Libertez 225, note k, cc. 6, 7. 9-11. 14.]
&c., Preuves, c. 15. no. xxxi. — Richer., l An. 1406. [Ordonn. du Roy
A JUST VINDICATION OF
A. D. 1438.
[A.D.1461]
reservations, and Apostolical graces,, and all other exactions
of the Court of Romeu. Charles the Seventh made the
Pragmatical Sanction,, to confirm all the acts of the Councils in
of Constance and Basle against the tyranny and usurpation
of the Pope x. It is true that Lewis the Eleventh, by the
nattering persuasion of ^Eneas Sylvius, then Pius the Second,
did revoke this Sanction. But the king's proctor, and the
Rector of the University of Paris, did oppose themselves for
mally to the registering and authorizing of this revocation.
Whereupon the king desired the advice of his parliament in
writing, which they gave to this effect, — that " the revocation
of that Sanction tended to the confusion of the whole ecclesi
astical Order, the depopulation of France, the exhausting and
impoverishment of the kingdom, and the total ruin of the
A. D. 1478. French Church J." Hereupon the king changed his mind,
and made divers declarations and edicts conformable to,
[A. D.I 483] and in pursuance of, the Pragmatical Sanction2. After this,
the three Estates, assembled at Tours, made it their first and
instant request to Charles the Eighth, that he would preserve
inviolable the Pragmatical Sanction, which they reputed as
[A.D.i5io] the Palladium of France a. And in the national Council
assembled by Lewis the Twelfth in the same city, it was
again confirmed b. But the Pope stormed, and thundered,
and ' excommunicated and interdicted Lewis the Twelfth/
Francis the First, and ' the whole realm, and exposed it as a
[Julius II.
A.D.1512.]
(Charles VI.) &c., against the exactions
of the Pope's officers in France, Feb. 18 ;
i — Ordonn. du Roy &c., sur les libertez
de 1'Eglise Gallicane &c., Feb. 18
(and May 15, 1408.), which is directed
against reservations and expectative
graces; — Arrest. Cur. Parliara. Paris,
super annatis non solvendis, Sept. 11 :
in the Traietez &c., Preuves, c. 22.
nos. viii. ix, x.]
u An. 1418. [Ordonn. du Roy
Charles VI. &c., against carrying money
out of the realm to Rome, May 7 ; —
Ordonn. du Roy &c., against the exac
tions (reservations and Apostolical
graces included) of the Court of Rome,
April 13: in the Traictez &c., Preuves,
c. 22. nos. xv. xvi.j
x An. 1438. [inter Acta Concil. Bi-
turicens., ap. Labb., Concil., torn. xii.
pp. 1429, 1432. It was printed with a
history and a voluminous commentary
by Pinsson, Paris. 1666. fol. See also
Richer., Hist. Concil. Gener., lib. iii.
c. 7. § 3 ; and Thomassin, Eccles.
Vetus et Nov. Discipl, P. ii. lib. i. c.
45.]
y [Pro Libert. Eccles. Gallic., &c.
Defens. Paris. Curiae, c. 18. See also
Richer., Hist. Cone. Gener., lib. iv.
P. i. c. 1 . § 7- 1 4. — Traictez &c., Preuves,
c. 13. nos. x. xi.]
z As that of Aug. 16, 1478. [" Let-
tres Patentes du Roy portant defenses
d'aller ny envoyer a Rome, &c., ny y
porter or ou argent:" — Traictez &c.,
Preuves, c. 20. no. xxvi.]
a An. 148 [3. Traictez &c., pp. 249,
336. ed. 1639, et Preuves, c. 12. no. vi.
— Daniel, Hist, de France, torn. viii. pp.
20, 22.]
h [An. 1510. See MassEei Chron.,
in an. 1510.— Daniel, Hist, de France,
torn. viii. p. 526.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 223
prey to the first that could take it ; and gave plenary indulg- DISCOURSE
ence to every one that should kill a Frenchman0.' King ^— —
Francis fainted under such fulminations, and came to a
composition or accommodation with Leo the Tenth,, which
was called " Conventa," or the " Concordate d" On the one
side, the Pope's friends think he wronged himself, and his
title to a spiritual sovereignty, very muck, by descending to
such an accommodation ; and exclude France out of the
number of those countries which they term pays d' obedience ;
as if the French were not loyal obedient subjects, but rebels,
to the Court of Rome. On the other side, the prelates, the
universities, the parliaments of France, were as ill contented
that the king should yield one inch, and opposed the accord : [A.D.1517]
insomuch as the University of Paris appealed from it to a
future Council, and expedited letters patents, sealed with the
University's seal, containing at large their grievances, and
the reasons of the appeal, which after were published to the
world in print e.
I cannot here omit the free and just speech of a French
Bishop. When Henry the Fourth had, in a manner, ended
the civil wars of France by changing from the Protestant to
the Roman Catholic communion ; yet the Pope, who favoured
the contrary party, upon pretence of his dissimulation, and
great dangers that might ensue thereupon, for a long time
deferred his reconciliation, until the French Prelates, by
their own authority, did first admit him into the bosom of
the Church : — at which time one of them used this discourse,
" Was France all on fire, and had they not rivers enough at
home, but they must run as far as Rome, to Tiber, to fetch
water to quench it ? "
Since that, in Cardinal Richelieu's days, it is well known
what books were freely printed, and publicly sold upon Pont
Neuf, of the lawfulness of erecting a new, or rather restoring
an old, proper Patriarchate in France, as one of the liberties
0 [Traictez &c., p. 248. ed. 1639. — sq — Concordator. textus integer, ibid.
Spondan., Continuat. Annal. Baron., in pp. 358 sq.]
an. 1512. num. 19, 23—25. Francis I. e [Richer., Hist. Concil. Gener., lib.
was not excommunicated.] iv. P. ii. c. 4. § 13, 14. The Appeal of
d [Bulla, qua continentur Concor- the Univ. of Paris is printed (seep. 220
data &c., in Act. Concil. Lateran. V., note q.) in the] Fascic. Rer. Expetend.
Sess. xi. (A. D. 1516), ap. Labb., et Fugiend., impressus [Colonise] 1535.
Concil., torn. xiv. pp. 291 sq. — Bulla [pp. 68-71. ed. 1690.]
Abrogat. Pragm. Sanct., ibid. pp. 309
224
A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART of the Galilean Church f. It was well for the Roman Court,
— that they became more propitious to the French affairs.
Take one instance more which happened very lately. The
Pope refused to admit any new Bishops in Portugal upon the
[John IV.] nomination of the present king, because he would not thereby
seem to acknowledge or approve his title to the crown, in
prejudice of the king of Spain ; whereby the Episcopal Order
in Portugal and the other dominions belonging to that
crown, was well near extinguished, and scarcely so many
Bishops were left alive (or could not be drawn together), as to
make a canonical ordination s. The three Orders of Portugal
did represent to the Pope, that in the kingdoms of Portugal
and the Algarbians, wherein ought to have been three Metro
politans and ten Suffragans, there was but one left, and he
by the Pope's dispensation non-resident; and in all the
Asiatic provinces but one other, and he both sickly and de
crepit ; and in all the African and American provinces, and
the islands, not one surviving11. But the Pope continued
inexorable : whereupon they present their request to their
neighbours and friends, the French prelates, beseeching them
to mediate for them with his Holiness; and, if he continue n:
still obstinately deaf to their just petition, to supply his
defect themselves, and to ordain them Bishops in case of
necessity. The French did the office of neighbours and
Christians. The Synod of the French clergy did write to the
Pope on their behalf, in April, 165 11. But that way not
succeeding, they sent one of their Bishops as an express
envoys to his Holiness, to let him know, that, if he still
refused, they cannot nor will be wanting to themselves, to
their neighbours, but would supply his defect. What the
issue of it is since, I have not yet heard.
f [See the tract of M. Jacques Capel,
in fin., among the Traictez &c., — Le
Long, Biblioth. Hist, de la France, liv.
ii. c. vii. art. 1. num. 2515,—and Bayle,
Dictionn., art. Le Marca, note C, there
quoted,]
E Balatus Ovium, pp. 2, 3.[, being
apparently the letter of the clergy of
Portugal to Innocent X., in 1644. See
a translation of it in Dr. Geddes' " Hist,
of the Pope's behaviour to Portugal
from 1641 to 1666," Miscellan. Tracts,
vol. ii. pp. 103-108: in which and in
BulTaldus (Pro Eccles. Lusit. ad Cler.
Gallic, libelli duo, ap. Gerdes., Serin.
Antiq., torn. viii. P. i. pp. 499 &c.
Groning. 1763) will be found a full
account of the whole affair.]
h Lusitanise Gemitus, p. 20. [quoted
by Geddes, pp. 138-141, where however
two Bishops are mentioned as remaining
in the Asiatic provinces. It has not
been found possible to meet with the
original tract.]
i Epist. Cleri Gallicani ad Innocent
X. Papam ; [not to be met with. See
a translation of their second letter to
the Pope, sent by the Bishop of Beau-
jeu their envoy, in 1652, in Geddes, pp.
143-146.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 225
But to leave matter of fact, and to come to the fundamental DISCOURSE
laws and customs of France. Every one hath heard of the —
' liberties of the French Church/ but every one understands
not what those liberties are, as being better known by their
practice at home, than by books abroad. I will only select
some of them out of their own authentic authorities k. And
when the reader hath considered well of them, let him judge
what authority the Pope hath in France, more than dis
cretionary at the good pleasure of the king, or more than he
might have had in other places, if he could have contented
himself with reason. Protestants are not so indiscreet or
uncharitable, as to violate the peace of Christendom for a
primacy or headship of order, without superiority of power ;
or for the name of ' his Holiness f or for a pall, if the price
were not too high ; or for a few innocent formalities.
1. "The Pope cannot command or ordain any thing,
directly or indirectly, concerning any temporal affairs, within
the dominions of the king of France."
2. " The spiritual authority and power of the Pope is not
absolute in France, but limited and restrained by the canons
and rules of the ancient Councils of the Church, received in
that kingdom." Where observe first, that the Pope can do
nothing in France as a sovereign spiritual prince, with his
Non obstante's, either against the canons, or besides the canons;
secondly, that the canons are no canons in France, except
they be received. This same privilege was anciently radicated
in the fundamental laws of England. This privilege the
Popes endeavoured to pluck up by the roots. And the con
tentions about this privilege were one principal occasion of
the separation.
3. fNo command whatsoever of the Pope can free the
French clergy from their obligation to obey the commands of
their sovereign/
k Traictez des Droits et Libertez de — ProLibertateEcclesise Gallicanae ad-
1'Eglise Gallicane ; [publ. at Paris by versus Roman. Aulam Defensio Parisi-
Pierre and Jacques Du Puy, at first in ensis Curiae[, Ludovico XL Gallor.
1 vol. 4to. in 1609, and again in 1 vol. Regi quondam oblata (viz. in 1461), as
folio in 1639 with a 2nd. vol. of publ. in Latin by Duarenus, 8vo. Paris.
"Preuves;" re-arranged and publ. a 1585, and in his works (fol. 1592), pp.
3rd time in 1651, and again in 1715 1208, sq. It is also among the docu-
and 1731 ; and lastly by M. de Maillane ments in Pinsson's Hist. Pragm. Sanct.,
in 5 vols. 4to. in 1771. See Dupin, Bibli- and in Richer., Hist. Cone. Gener., lib.
oth. des Auth. Eccles.,Sieclexvii. liv.iii. iv. P. i. c. 1. § 12. The original
c. 1, and the Preface of M. de Maillane.] French is in the Traictez &c.]
BRAMIIALL. Q,
226 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART 4. " The most Christian King hath had power at all times,
- according to the occurrence and exigence of affairs, to assem-
tZsof the " ble or cause to be assembled Synods, provincial or national,
Smrch 1 an^ therein to treat, not only of such things as concern the
conservation of the civil estate, but also of such things as
concern ecclesiastical order and discipline " in his own domi
nions; and therein "to make rules, chapters, laws, ordin
ances, and Pragmatic Sanctions, in his own name, and by
his own authority ; many of which have been received among
the decrees of the Catholic Church, and some of them
approved by general Councils/'
5. "The Pope cannot send a leg&te-a-latere into France,
with power to reform, judge, collate, dispense, or do such
other things accustomed to be specified in the authoritative
Bull of his legation, except it be upon the desire or with the
approbation of the most Christian King. Neither can the
said legate execute his charge until he hath promised the
king in writing, under his oath upon his Holy Orders,
not to make use of his legantine power in the king's domi
nions longer than it shall please the king ; and that, so soon
as he shall be admonished of the king's pleasure to forbid it,
he will give it over ; and that, whilst he doth use it, it shall
be exercised conformably to the king's will, without attempt
ing any thing to the prejudice of the decrees of general
Councils, or the liberties and privileges of the Gallican
Church and the universities of France."
6. " The commissions and Bulls of the Pope's legates are
to be seen, examined, and approved, by the Court of Parlia
ment ; and to be registered and published with such cautions
and modifications as that Court shall judge expedient for the
good of the kingdom, and to be executed according to the
said cautions, and not otherwise."
7. "The Prelates of the French Church (although com
manded by the Pope), for what cause soever it be, may not
depart out of the kingdom without the king's commandment
or license."
8. " The Pope can neither by himself nor by his delegates 115
judge of any thing which concerneth the state, pre-eminence,
or privileges, of the crown of France, nor of any thing per
taining to it : nor can there be any question or process
1
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 227
about the state or pretensions of the king, but in his own DISCOUUSE
COUrts." Thel'iber
9. " Papal Bulls, citations, sentences, excommunications, ties of the
and the like, are not to be executed in France without the church.]
king's command, or permission ; and after permission, only
by authority of the king, and not by authority of the Pope,
to shun confusion and mixture of jurisdictions."
10. ' Neither the king, nor his realm, nor his officers, can
be excommunicated or interdicted by the Pope, nor his sub
jects absolved from their oath of allegiance/
11. "The Pope cannot impose pensions in France upon
any benefices having cure of souls, nor upon any others
but according to the canons, according to the express
condition of the resignation," or 'ad redimendam vescatio-
nem.'
12. <( All Bulls and missives which come from Rome to
France are to be seen and visited, to try if there be nothing
in them prejudicial in any manner to the estate and liberties
of the Church of France, or to the royal authority."
13. 'It is lawful to appeal from the Pope to a future
Council.'
14. Ecclesiastical persons may be convented, judged, and
sentenced, before a secular judge, for the first grievous or
enormous crime ; or for lesser oifences after a relapse, which
renders them incorrigible in the eye of the law.
15. All the prelates of France are obliged to swear fealty
to the king, and to receive from him their investitures for
their fees and manors.
16. " The Courts of Parliament, in case of appeals as from
abuse, have right and power to declare null, void, and to
revoke, the Pope's Bulls and excommunications, and to forbid
the execution of them, when they are found contrary to
sacred decrees, the liberties of the French Church, or the
prerogative royal."
17. General Councils are above the Pope, and may depose
him, and put another in his place, and take cognizance of
appeals from the Pope.
18. All Bishops have their power immediately from Christ,
not from the Pope, and are equally successors of St. Peter
and the other Apostles, and vicars of Christ.
228
A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART
I.
[Theliber-
ties of the
French
Church.]
III. The
king of
Spain as
serts the
liberties of
his own
Churches.
19. " Provisions, reservations, expectative graces, &c. have
no place in France."
20. The Pope cannot exempt any church, monastery, or
ecclesiastical body, from the jurisdiction of their ordinary,
nor erect Bishoprics into Archbishoprics, nor unite them, nor
divide them, without the king's license.
21. All those are not heretics, excommunicated, or
damned, who differ in some things from the doctrine of the
Pope, who appeal from his decrees, and hinder the execution
of the ordinances of him or his legates \
These are part of the liberties of the Gallican Church.
The ancient British Church needed no such particular privi
leges, since they never knew any foreign jurisdiction ; the
English British Church, which succeeded them in time, in
place, and partly in their members and Holy Orders, ought
to have enjoyed the same freedom and exemption : but, in
the days of the Saxon, Danish, and Norman kings, the Popes
did by degrees insinuate themselves into the managery of
ecclesiastical affairs in England. Yet for many ages the
English Church enjoyed all these Gallican privileges, without
any remarkable interruption from the Roman Court. As in
truth they do of right by the law of nature belong to all
sovereign princes in their own dominions : otherwise king
doms should be "destitute of necessary remedies for their
own conservation." And in later ages, when the Popes,
having thrust in their heads, did strive to draw in their
whole bodies after, the whole kingdom opposed them, and
made laws against their several gross intrusions, as we
have formerly seen in this discourse ; and never quitted
these English (as well as Gallican) liberties, until the Re
formation.
III. But perhaps we may find more loyalty and obedience
to the Court of Rome in the Catholic King. Not at all.
Whatsoever power King Henry or any of his successors did
ever assume to themselves in England as the political Heads
of the Church, the same and much more doth the Catholic
1 [The " liberties" in the text, which
are marked as quotations, are taken from
the treatise of Pithou (publ. originally
in 1594), which stands at the head of
the Traictez &c. torn. i. ed. 1639. The
remainder may he found in different
parts of the same collection.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 229
King not only pretend unto, but exercise and put in practice, DISCOURSE
in his kingdom of Sicily, both by himself, and by his dele '•
gates, "whom he substitutes with the same authority, to judge
114 and punish" all ecclesiastical crimes, "to excommunicate and
absolve" all ecclesiastical persons, "laymen, monks, clerks,
Abbots, Bishops, Archbishops, yea, and even the Cardinals
themselves which inhabit in Sicily m." He suffers no "appeals
to Rome;" he "admits no nuncios from Rome;" " atque demum,
respectu ecclesiastics jurisdictions, neque ipsam Apostolicam
Sedem recognoscere et habere superiorem, nisi in casu praeven-
tionis " — " and to conclude, he acknowledgeth not any supe
riority of the See of Rome itself, but only in case of preven
tion"."
What saith Baronius to this ? He complains bitterly, that,
"prcetensd Apostolicd authoritate, contra Apostolicam ipsam
Sedem grande piaculum perpetratur" &c. — " Upon pretence
of Apostolic authority, a grievous offence is committed against
the Apostolic See, .... the power whereof is weakened in the
kingdom of Sicily, the authority thereof abrogated, the juris
diction wronged, the ecclesiastical laws violated, and the
rights of the Church dissipated °." And a little after he de
claims yet higher; — "Quid tu ad ista dixeris, lector ?>} —
" What wilt thou say to this, reader ? but that, under the
name of monarchy, besides that one monarch, which all the
faithful have ever acknowledged as the only visible Head in
the Church, another Head is risen up, and brought into the
kingdom of Sicily, for a monster and a prodigy," &C.P But
for this liberty which he took, the king of Spain, fairly and
quietly, without taking any notice of his Cardinalitan dignity,
caused his books to be burned publicly <*.
It will be obiected, that the kins; of Spain challengeth this [This
~. ., . . . power chal-
power in Sicily, not by his regal authority as a sovereign lenged by-
prince, but by the Bull of Urbanus the Second, who consti-
tuted Roger Earl of Sicily, and his heirs, his legates-a-/«fere
in that kingdom, whereby all succeeding princes do challenge
m Edict. Carol. V., Decernb. 5. An. P [Id.,] ibid., num. 29.
1526. [as quoted by Baron., Annal., q [See the edict of Philip III. in
in an. 1097. num. 29.] 1610, "contra Tractat. de Monarch.
n Baron., Annal., torn. xi. in an. Sicil. a Caes. Baron, xi. Annal. tomo
1097. num. 29, edit. Mogunt. 1606. insertum," ap. Goldast, Mon. S. Rom.
0 [Id.,] ibid., num. 28. Imp., torn. iii. pp. 619, 620.]
230 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART to be legati nati, with power to substitute others,, and qualify
: them with the same authority r.
[Authority 1. But, first, if the Papacy be by Divine right, what power
to makPe°pe hath any particular Pope to transfer so great a part of his
g^ a Office an<i authority from his successors for ever, unto a lay
man and his heirs, by way of inheritance ? If every Pope
should do as much for another kingdom, as Urbanus did for
Sicily, the Court of Rome would quickly want employment.
[Similar 2. Secondly, if the Bull of Urbanus the Second was so
Sofas n. available to the succeeding kings of Sicily, which yet is
kin^of disputed whether it be authentic or not, whether it be full,
England.] or defective and mutilated; why should not the Bull of
Nicholas the Second, his predecessor, granted to our Edward
the Confessor and his successors8, be as advantageous to
the succeeding kings of England ? Why not much rather ?
seeing that they are thereby constituted or declared, not
legates, but governors, of the English Church, in the Pope's
place, or rather in Christ's place; seeing that without all
doubt Sicily was a part of the Pope's ancient Patriarchate,
but Britain was not; and, lastly, seeing the situation of
Sicily, so much nearer to Rome, renders the Sicilians
more capable of receiving justice from thence, than the
English.
[The self- 3. Thirdly, the king of Spain, when he pleaseth and when
Ssumedby ne sees hi§ own time, doth not only pretend unto, but
the king of assume m his other dominions, that self-same power or
Spam in * x
his other essential right of sovereignty, which I plead for in this trea-
tlo mi-
riions.] tise.
[Case of It is not unknown to the world, how indulgent a father
and Phmp' Urban the Eighth was sometimes to the king and kingdom of
1633 t'D" France, and how passionately he affected the interest of that
crown ; and by consequence, that his ears were deaf to the
requests and remonstrances of the king of Spain. The
Catholic King resents this partiality very highly, and threatens
the Pope, if he persist, to provide a remedy for the grievances
of his subjects by his own power. Accordingly, to make
good his word, he called a general assembly of all the Estates
r [Urban. II. Epist. xiii. dat. 5 Jul. 1097. num. 23.]
1098, ap. Labk, Concil., torn. x. pp. s [Seep. 138, note r.]
437, 438.— et Baron., Annal., in an.
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 231
of the kingdom of Castile, to consider of the exorbitancies of DISCOURSE
the Court of Rome in relation to his Majesty's subjects, and —
to consult of the proper remedies thereof. They did meet,
and draw up a Memorial, consisting of ten articles, contain
ing the chiefest abuses and innovations and extortions of the
Court of Rome in the kingdom of Castile. His Majesty sends
it to the Pope by Friar Domingo Pimentel, as his ambas
sador. The Pope returned a smart answer by Signior Maraldo
his secretary. The king replied as sharply. All which was
afterwards printed by the special command of his Catholic
Majesty *.
115 The sum of their complaint was,
First, concerning the Pope's imposing of pensions upon [Com-
dignities and other benefices ecclesiastical, even those which the Estates
had cure of souls, in favour of strangers, in an excessive of
proportion, to the third part of the full value : that, although
benefices were decayed, in many places of Spain, two third
parts of the true value, yet the Court of Rome kept up the
pensions at the full height ; that it was contrived so, that the
pensions did begin long before the beneficiaries entered upon
their profits, insomuch as they were indebted sometimes two
years' pensions, before they themselves could taste of the
fruits of their benefices ; and then the charge of censures, and
other proceedings in the Court of Rome, fell so heavy upon
them, that they could never recover themselves : and further,
that, whereas all trade is driven in current silver, only the
Court of Rome, which neither toils nor sweats nor hazards
any thing, will be paid only in ducats of gold, not after the
current rates, but according to the old value : that to seek
for a remedy of these abuses at Rome, was such an insup
portable charge, by reason of three instances and three sen
tences necessary to be obtained, that it was in vain to
attempt any such thing. This they cried out upon as a most
grievous yoke u.
They complained likewise of the Pope's granting of coad-
jutorships with future succession, whereby ecclesiastical pre
ferments were made hereditary, persons of parts and worth
* [See Heydegger, Hist. Papat, Pe- u Memorial de Sa Magestad Cato-
riod. vii. § 244 ; and from him, Andr. lica, [viz. Philip IV., addressed to
Carolus, Memorab. Sec. xvii, torn. i. Urban VII I.] cc. 1, 2, 3. [not to he
lib. iv. c. 9.] met with.]
232 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART were excluded from all hopes, and a large gap was opened to
'- most gross simony x.
plaints of They complained of the Pope's admitting of resignations
with reservation of the greatest part of the profits of the
benefice, insomuch that he left not above a hundred ducats
yearly to the incumbent out of a great benefice y.
They complained most bitterly of the extortions of the
Roman Court, in the case of dispensations : that, whereas no
dispensation ought to be granted without just cause, now
there was no cause at all inquired after in the Court of Rome,
but only the price ; that a great price supplied the want of a
good cause ; that the gate was shut to no man that brought
money ; that their dispensations had no limits but the Pope's
will; that for a matrimonial dispensation under the second
degree, they took of great persons 8000 or 12,000 or 14,000
ducats z.
They complained, that the Pope, being but the Church's
steward and dispenser, did take upon him, as lord and
master, to dispose of all the rights of all ecclesiastical persons ;
that he withheld from Bishops, being the true owners, the
sole disposing of all ecclesiastical preferments, for eight
months in the year ; that he ought not to provide for his own
profit, and the necessities of his Court, with so great preju
dice to the right of ordinaries, and confusion of the ecclesias
tical order, whilst he suffers not Bishops to enjoy their own
patronages and jurisdictions a. They cite St. Bernard, where
he tells Pope Eugenius, that "the Roman Church (whereof
he was made governor by God) was the Mother of other
Churches, but not the Lady or Mistress ; and that he himself
was not the Lord or Master of other Bishops, but one of
themV
They complained, that the Pope did challenge and usurp
to himself, as his own, at their deaths, all clergymen's estates,
that were gained or raised out of the revenue of the Church ;
that a rich clergyman could no sooner fall sick, but the Pope's
collectors were gaping about him for his goods, and guards
x [Ibid.,] c. 4. b De Considerat. [adv. Eugen. Pap.,]
* [Ibid.,] c. 5. lib. iv. c. 7. [ap. Goldast., S. Rom.
[Ibid.,] c. 6. Imp., torn. ii. p. 88.]
a [Ibid.,] c. 7.
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 233
set presently about his house ; that, by this means, Bishops DISCOUR
have been deserted upon their death-beds, and famished for
want of meat to eat ; that they have not had, before they ££jjj*i of
were dead, a cup left to drink in, nor so much as a candle-
stick of all their goods (it is their own expression) ; that, by
this means, creditors were defrauded, processes in law were
multiplied, and great estates wasted to nothing c.
They complained, that the Popes did usurp as their own
all the revenues of Bishoprics during their vacancies, some
times for divers years together, all which time the churches
were unrepaired, the poor unrelieved, not so much as one
alms given, and the wealth of Spain exported into a foreign
land, which was richer than itself. They wish the Pope " to
take it as an argument of their respect to the See of Rome,
that they do not go about forthwith to reform these abuses
by their own authority, in imitation of other provinces*1."
lie So it was not the unwarrantableness of the act in itself, but
merely their respect, that did withhold them.
They complained of the great inconveniences and abuses
in the exercise of the nuncio's office : that it is reckoned as
a curse in Holy Scripture, to be governed by persons of a
different language ; that for ten crowns a man might pur
chase any thing of them ; that the fees of their office were so
great, that they alone were a sufficient punishment for a
grievous crime. They added, that self-interest was the root
of all these evils ; that " such abuses as these gave occasion
to all the reformations and schisms of the Church." They
added, that these things did much trouble the mind of his
Catholic Majesty, and ought to be seriously pondered by all
sovereign princes ; " qui intra Ecclesiam potestatis adeptce cul-
mina tenent, ut per tandem potestatem disciplinam ecclesias-
ticam muniant e „•" — behold our political supremacy. They
proceeded, that " often the Heavenly kingdom is advantaged
by the earthly; that Churchmen, acting against faith and
right discipline, may be reformed by the rigour of princes.
Let the princes of this world know" (say they) "that they
owe an account to God of the Church, which they have
received from Him into their protection. For whether peace
c [Memorial, &c.] c. 8. e [Quot. from Gratian., Decret., P.
d [Ibid.,] c. 9. ii. caus. xxiii. Qu. 5. c. 19.]
234 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART and right ecclesiastical discipline be increased or decayed by
Christian princes, God will require an account from them,
plaints of Who hath trusted His Church unto their power." They tell
his Holiness, it was a work worthy of him, to turn all such
courtiers out of his court, who did much hurt by their
persons, and no good by their examples : adding this dis
tich, —
" Vivere qni sancte cupitis, discedite Romd ;
" Omnia cum liceant, non licet esse bonumf."
And for remedy of these abuses, they proposed, that the
Pope's nuncios should not meddle with the exercise of eccle
siastical jurisdiction, but be merely in the nature of ambas
sadors ; that all ecclesiastical causes should be determined at
home, according to the canons ; that the Pope should delegate
the dispensation of matters of grace to some fit commissioners
within the kingdom ; that ecclesiastical courts or Rota's should
be erected within the realm, wherein all causes should be
finally determined without recourse to Rome, except in such
cases as are allowed by the ancient canons of the Church s.
Lastly, they represented, that his Majesty was justly
pressed by the continual clamours and reiterated instances
of his subjects, to whose assistance and protection he was
obliged to contribute whatsoever he was able, as their
natural lord and king; to procure their weal with all his
might, by all just means, according to the dictates of natural
reason ; and to remedy the grievances which they suffered in
their persons, and in their goods, by occasion of such like
abuses, not practised in other kingdoms : especially this pro
position being so conformable to the Apostolical precepts,
and to the sacred canons of Councils h.
They tell the Pope, that their first address is to him, to
whom as universal pastor the reformation thereof doth most
properly belong, that " there might be no need to proceed to
other remedies prescribed by the doctors of the Church."
And in the margin they cite more than twenty several
authors, to shew what the magistrate might do, in case the
Pope should refuse or neglect to reform these abuses. So
you see they confessed plainly, that there were other lawful
remedies ; and intimated sufficiently, that they must proceed
' [Ibid.,] c. 10. g Ibid., c. 10. h Ibidem.
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 235
to the use of them, in case the Pope refused or neglected to DISCOURSE
do his duty. That was for the sovereign prince, with his
Bishops and Estates, to ease his subjects, and reform the
abuses of the Roman Court within his own dominions : and
oi Castile. J
this by direction of the law of nature, upon our former
ground, — that " no kingdom is destitute of necessary remedies
for its own preservation." But they chose rather to tell the
Pope this unwelcome message in the names and words of a
whole cloud of Roman Catholic doctors, than in their own.
In fine, the Pope continued obstinate, and the king pro
ceeded from words to deeds : and by his sovereign power
stopped all proceedings in the nuncio's court ; and for the
space of eight weeks did take away all intercourse and cor
respondence with Rome (this was the first act of Henry the
117 Eighth, which Sanders calls the " beginning of the schism *") ;
until the Pope, being taught by the costly experience of his
predecessors, fearing justly what the consequents of these
things might be in a little time, was contented to bow, and
condescend to the king's desires.
To shew yet further, that the kings of Spain, when they [other in-
judge it expedient, do make themselves no strangers to eccle- tife'same
siastical affairs, we read that Charles the Fifth renewed an kind^
edict of his predecessors at Madrid, that " Bulls and missives
sent from Rome should be visited, to see that they contained
nothing in them prejudicial to the crown or Church of
Spain j;" which was strictly observed within the Spanish
dominions.
I might add, upon the credit of the Portugueses, how
Alexander Castracan was disgraced and expelled out of Spain
for publishing the Pope's Bulls, and that the Papal censures
were declared voidk; and how the Pope's delegates or Apo
stolical judges have been banished out of that kingdom for
maintaining the privileges of the Roman Court l.
And when the king of Spain objected to the Pope the
pensions, which he and his Court received yearly out of
Spain from ecclesiastical benefices and dignities, the Pope's
5 [De Schism., lib. i. p. 74, ed. 1610.] quoting from the Traictez &c., torn. i.
j An. 1543 Pad. Paolo, Apologia p. 20. ed. 1639.]
[per Gerson, in the Raccolta degli k Lusitanise Gemitus, p. 39. [see p.
Scritti, &c. nella causa di P. Paolo V. 224, notes g, h.]
co. Sign. Venet], p. 405. [ed. 1007, l [Ibid.,] p. 41.
236 A JUST VINDICATION OF
p A^R T secretary replied, that all the Papal pensions put together did
scarcely amount to so much as only one pension imposed by
the king upon the Archbishopric of Seville. Neither did the
king deny the thing, but justify it, as done in favour of an
Infante of Castile ; and did further acknowledge, that it was
not unusual for the kings of Spain to impose pensions upon
ecclesiastical preferments, to the fourth part of the value,
except in the kingdom of Galliciam. This was more than
ever any king of England attempted, either before, or after,
the Reformation.
[Reception Before wre leave the dominions of this great prince, let us
in Brabant . G r '
and Flan- cast our eyes a little upon Brabant and Flanders. Who
Urban hath not heard of a book composed by Jansenius Bishop of
Bui/against Ypres, called " Augustinus •" and of those great animosities
Jansenius.] an(j contentions that have risen about it in most Roman
Catholic countries? I meddle not with the merit of the
cause, — whether Jansenius followed St. Austin, or St. Austin
his ancients, or whether he be reconcileable to himself in this
question. I do willingly omit all circumstances, but only
those which conduce to my present purpose. So it was, that
Urban the Eighth by his Bull censured the said book, as
maintaining divers temerarious and dangerous positions under
the name of St. Austin, forbidding all Catholics to print it,
sell it, or keep it, for the future. This Bull was sent to the
Archbishop of Mechlin and the Bishop of Gant, to see it
published and obeyed in their provinces. But they both re
fused, and, for refusing, were cited to appear at Rome ; and
not appearing by themselves, or their proctors, were sus
pended and interdicted by the Pope, and the copy of the
sentence affixed to the door of the great church in Brussels :
although in truth they durst not publish the sentence of con
demnation without the king's license ; and were expressly
forbidden by the Council of Brabant to appear at Rome,
under great penalties, as appeareth manifestly by the pro
clamation or Placaert of the Council themselves dated at
Brussels, May 12, 1653 : — wherein they do further declare,
that it was "lEUnntlfcfe £JU}e notofr," &c. "well known and
notoriously true, that the subjects of those provinces, of what
state or condition soever, could not be cited nor convented
m Memorial de Sa Magestad Catolica.
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 237
out of the land, neither in person, nor by their proctor " — DISCOURSE
" sdber oocfc met boor Jjet fioff ban Hioomw " — " no, not by the — — —
Court of Rome itself:" — and further, that "the provisions,
spiritual censures, excommunications, suspensions, and inter
dictions, of that Court, might not be published or put in exe
cution," without ' the king's approbation after the Council's
deliberation :' — and yet further, they do ordain, that " the
said defamatory writing" (so they call the copy of the Pope's
sentence) " should be torn in pieces in the great hall of the
Court at Brussels by the door-keeper, condemning and
abolishing the memory thereof for ever n." Thus all Christen
dom do join unanimously in this truth, that not the Court of
Rome, but their own sovereigns in their Councils, are the
last judges of their national liberties and privileges.
IV. I pass from Spain to Portugal, where the king and iv. The
kingdom either are at this present time, or very lately were, Porfugai
very much unsatisfied with the Pope, and all about their |^ the
ancient customs and essential rights of the crown : as the ^ k*ns
nomination of their own Bishops, without which condition
they tell the Pope plainly, that " they neither can nor ought
to receive them ° ;" that if others than the sovereign prince
have the naming of them, then " suspected persons may be
118 intruded P," and the realm can have no security: that it is the
opinion of all good men, and 'the judgment of most learned
men, that herein " the Pope doth most grievously derogate
from the right of the crown <i ;" that it is done in favour of
the king of Castile, lest he should either revolt from his obe
dience to the Pope, or make war against him ; and that, if
provision be made contrary to justice "for the private in
terests of the Roman Court, Christ's right is betrayed r."
They advise the Pope to let the world know that "he hath
care of souls, and leaves temporal things to princes s •" that,
if he persist to change the custom of the Church to the pre
judice of Portugal, Portugal may and ought to preserve its
n Impress. Bruxellis per Anth. Vel- ° Lusitanise Gemitus, p. 30. [see p.
pium Typograph. Regium, 1653. [See 224, notes g, h.j
a translation of this decree (with the p [Ibid.,] p. 31.
Bulls and other documents relating to q [Ibid.,] p. 32.
the whole transaction) in Argentre, r [Ibid.,] p. 34.
Collect. Judicior. de Nov. Error., torn. s [Ibid.,] p. 37.
iii. pp. 244, 251, 256, &c.]
238 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART right ; and that, " if he love Castile more than Portugal, Por-
- tugal is not obliged to obey him more than Castile V
There are other differences likewise, as namely about the
imprisoning of some Prelates for treason; to which they
make this plea, that ' the law doth warrant it ; that ecclesi
astical immunities are not opposite to natural defence ; that
it is he that hurts his country, who hurts his own im
munity V
A third difference was about the king's intermeddling in
the controversies of religious persons ; to which they answer,
that " the protection of the prince is not a violation, but a
defence, of the rights of the Church ;" that " it is the duty of
Catholic princes to see regular discipline be observed v."
The fourth difference is about taxes imposed upon ecclesi
astical persons, and the taking up the revenues of Bishop
rics in the vacancy ; to which they give this satisfaction,
that " all orders of men are obliged in justice to contribute
to the common defence of the kingdom, and their own neces
sary protection;" and that the revenues of the vacant
Bishoprics could not be {f better deposited and conserved,
than when they are employed by the prince for the public
benefit, cum onere restituendi"
In sum, they wish the Pope over and over again to con
sider seriously the danger of these courses, now when heresy
shews itself with such confidence throughout Europe x ; that
the minds of men are inclined to suspected opinions; that
(< St. Peter's ship, which hath often been in danger in a calm
sea, ought not to be opposed to the violent course of just
complainers y," who think themselves forsaken; that "the
Church of Home hath lost many kingdoms, which have with
drawn their obedience and reverential respect from it, for
much lesser reasons z ;" that they had learned with grief, by
their last repulse, that their submissions and iterated suppli
cations had prejudiced their right ; that " the king's ambassa
dor, the clergy's messenger, the agent from the three Orders
of the kingdom, had found nothing at Rome from two Popes
but neglects, affronts, and repulses a ;" and, lastly, for a fare-
t [Ibid.,] p. 38. y [Ibid.,] p. 27.
u [Ibid.,] p. 40. z [Ibid.,] p. 43.
v [Ibid.,] p. 42. a [Ibid.,] p. 44.
x [Ibid,] p. 23.
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 239
well, that Portugal, and all the provinces that belong unto it DISCOURSE
in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, te is more than one - '• -
single sheep b ;" — which is as much as if they should tell him
in plain downright terms, that, if he lose it by his own fault,
he loseth one of the fairest flowers in his garland. What the
issue of this will be, God only knows, and time must discover.
I will conclude this point with the answer of the Univer- [Answers
sity of Lisbon to certain questions or demands, moved unto
them by the States or Orders of Portugal c.
The first question was, whether, in case there were no re- of Portu-
course to the Pope, the king of Portugal might permit the
consecration of Bishops without the Pope in his kingdom ?
To which their answer was affirmative, that he might do it,
because " Episcopacy was of Divine right, but the reservation
of the Pope's approbation was of human right, which doth
not bind in extreme, nor in very great, necessity."
The second question, whether there was extreme necessity
of consecrating new Bishops in Portugal ? Their answer was
affirmative, that there was, because there was but one Bishop
left in Portugal, and six-and-twenty wanting in the rest of
the king's dominions.
The third question was, whether Portugal had then [been
obliged to haved] recourse to the Pope for his approbation?
The answer was negative, that they had not : first, because the
Castilians had attempted to slay their ambassadors before the
eyes of Urban the Eighth, and Innocent the Tenth, so there
was no safe recourse; and, secondly, because their ambas
sadors could not prevail with the Pope in nine years by
all their solicitations ; so there was no hope to obtain.
The fourth question was, whether the permission of this
were scandalous ? The answer was negative, that it was not :
first, because it was a greater scandal to want Bishops;
secondly, because the king had used all due means to obtain
the Pope's approbation ; thirdly, because it was done out of
extreme necessity.
The fifth and last question was, how Bishops were to be
provided ? They answered, that it was to be done according
to law, by the election of the respective Chapters and by the
b [Ibid.,] p. 45. [not to be met with.]
0 Impress. Olyssiponse, an. 1649. d [Supplied in the folio edition.]
240
A JUST VINDICATION OF
Venetian
laws.
PART presentation of the king, as it was of old in Spain and Portu-
'• gal, and was still observed in Germany and elsewhere.
[V. The V. From Spain and Portugal it is now high time to pass
Venice!]0 °f°ver illto Itaty : where we meet with the republic of Venice,
obliged in some sort to the Papacy for that honour, and
grandeur, and profit, and advantage, which the Italian nation
doth reap from it. Yet have not they wanted their discon
tents, and differences, and disputes, with the Court of Rome.
The Republic of Venice had made several laAVs : as, first,
that no ecclesiastical person should make any claim or pre
tence to any " bona emphyteutica" (as the lawyers call them, —
that is, waste lands, that had been planted and improved by
the great charge, and industry, and good culture, of the fee-
farmers), "which were possessed by the laity6;" secondly, that
' ' no person whatsoever, within their dominions, should found
any church, monastery, hospital, or other religious house,
without the special license of the state," upon pain of ' ' im
prisonment, and banishment, and confiscation of the soil
and buildings f ;" thirdly, that none of their subjects should
' alienate any lands to the Church, or in favour of any ecclesi
astical persons, secular or regular, without the special license
of the Senate/ upon pain that the lands so alienated should
be "sold, and the money divided between the commonwealth,
the magistrate executing the law, and the party prosecuting
the process s •/' fourthly, the Duke and the Senate had
imprisoned an Abbot and a Canon, for certain crimes whereof
they stood convicted11.
Paul the Fifth resented these things very highly, and com
manded the Duke and Senate of Venice to abrogate these
laws, so prejudicial to the authority of the Pope, to the rights
of holy Church, and to the privileges of ecclesiastical persons;
and to set their prisoners forthwith at liberty : or, otherwise,
in case of disobedience, he excommunicated the Duke and
Senate and all their partakers; and subjected the city of
Venice and all the dominions thereunto belonging to an
interdict ; and, moreover, declared all the lands and goods,
The Bull
of Pope
[Paul V]
e Mali 23, An. 1602.[, ap. Bull.
Paul. V., in the Raccolta degli Scritti,
&c., p. 3.]
f Jan.
10, An. 1603. [ibid.]
g Martii 26, An. 1605. [ibid.]
h Bulla Pauli V., dat. Rom. Apr. 17,
1606. [in the Raccolta degli Scritti &c.,
p. 4.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 241
which either the city of Venice or any of the persons exconi- DISCOURSE
municated did hold of the Church, to be forfeited; and, -
lastly, commanded all ecclesiastical persons, high and low,
upon their obedience, to publish that Bull, and to forbear to
celebrate all Divine offices, according to the interdict, upon
pains contained therein, as also of suspension, sequestration,
deprivation, and incapacity to hold any ecclesiastical prefer
ments for the future1.
But what did the Venetians, whilst Paul the Fifth thun- Slighted by
dered against them in this manner ? They maintained their tians.
laws ; they detained their prisoners ; they protested publicly,
before God and the world, against the Pope's Bull, as ' unjust
and void, made without reason, against the Scriptures, and
the doctrine of the Holy Fathers, and the canons of the
Church, to the high prejudice of the secular power, with
grievous and universal scandal'; they commanded all the
clergy within their dominions to celebrate Divine offices duly,
notwithstanding the Pope's interdictk: and, at the same time,
they published and licensed sundry other writings, tending
to the lessening of the Papal greatness and jurisdiction of the
Roman Court ; — sundry of which books were condemned by
the Inquisition, as " containing in them many things teme
rarious, calumnious, scandalous, seditious, schismatical, here
tical ;" and the reading and keeping of them was prohibited,
under pain of excommunication l.
During this contestation, the Duke of Venice died ; and
the Pope prohibited the Venetians to proceed to the election
of a new Duke. The Senate, notwithstanding the Pope's
injunction or inhibition, proceed to the election. The people
are unanimous, and resolute to defend their just liberties.
The clergy celebrate Divine offices duly, notwithstanding the
Pope's interdict. Only one Order, with some few others,
adhered to the Pope; and, for their labour, were banished
out of the Venetian city and territories. The Pope called
120 home his legate from Venice. The Venetians revoked their
ambassadors, ordinary and extraordinary, from Rome. The
1 Bulla eadem, [ibid., pp. 5, 6.] p. 285.]
k Litterse Leonard! Don., Ducis ! Pad. Paolo, Historia Particolare,
Venet, [addressed to the clergy of the lib. iv. pp. 141, [142. ed. Genev. 1624.
Venet. empire,] datae Maii 6, 1606. See also lib. i. p. SO.]
[ap. Goldast., S. Rom. Imp., torn. iii.
BRAMHALL. R
242 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART Pope incited the king of Spain to make war against the
L Republic, to reduce them to the obedience of the Church.
And the Venetians, being aided by their Roman Catholic
allies, armed themselves for their own defence m.
Venetian It is not unworthy of our observation, what was the doc-
doctrines. yenetian preachers and writers in those days, as
it is summed up by an eye-witness and a great actor in those
affairs : — that " God had constituted two governments in the
world, the one spiritual, the other temporal; either of them
sovereign in their kind, and independent the one upon the
other :" that " the care of the spiritual was committed to the
Apostles and their successors " (not to St. Peter as a single
Apostle, and his successors alone, either at Antioch, or at
Rome, as if all the rest were but delegates for term of life ;
wherein they agreed justly with us) : that ' as each particular
Bishop is the respective Head of his proper Church, so Epi
scopacy/ or St. Cyprian's "unusEpiscopatus*" — the conjoint
body of Bishops, 'is the ecclesiastical Head of the militant
Church :' that the care " of the temporal government is com
mitted to sovereign princes :" that " these two cannot intrude
the one into the office of the other : that the Pope hath
no power to annul the laws of princes in temporal things,
nor to deprive them of their estates, nor to free their sub
jects from their allegiance;" that the attempt "to de
pose kings was but five hundred years old, contrary to
Scriptures, contrary to the examples of Christ and of the
Saints: that to teach, that, in case of controversy between
the Pope and a prince, it is lawful to persecute him by
treachery or force, or, that his rebellious subjects may pur
chase by it remission of sins, — is a seditious and sacrilegious
doctrine: that the exemption of ecclesiastical persons and
their goods from the secular power, is not from the law of
God but from the piety of princes/' "sometimes more, some
times less, according to the exigence of affairs :" that "Papal
exemptions of the clergy are in some places not received at
all, in other places but received in part/' "and that they have
no efficacy or validity farther than they are received : that
notwithstanding any exemption, sovereigns have power over
m Idem, [ibid.,] lib. i, [ii, etiii.j pp. " [De Unitat., Op., p. 108.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 243
their persons and goods, whensoever the necessity of the DISCOURSE
commonwealth requires it : that if any exemption whatso-
ever be abused to the disturbance of the public tranquillity,
the prince is obliged to provide remedy for it :" that " the
Pope ought not to hold himself infallible, nor promise himself
such Divine assistance :" that " the authority to bind and
loose is to be understood, clave non errante :" that " when
the Pope hath censured or excommunicated a prince, the
doctors may lawfully examine whether his key have erred or
not ; and when the prince is certified that the censure against
him or his subjects is invalid, he may and ought, for the pre
servation of public peace, to hinder the execution thereof,
preserving his religion and convenient reverence to the
Church :" that " the excommunication of a multitude, or a
prince that commands much people, is pernicious and sacri
legious : that the new name of blind obedience," lately " in
vented, was unknown to the" ancient <( Church, and to all good
theologians ; destroys the essence of virtue, which is to work
by certain knowledge and election ; exposeth to danger of
offending God ; excuseth not the errors of a spiritual prince ;
and was apt to raise sedition, as the experience of the last
forty years had manifested °." What conclusion would have
followed from these premisses, if they had been thoroughly
pursued, it were no difficult matter to determine.
1. It may perhaps be objected, that the Venetian state had [These pri-
these privileges granted to them by the Popes and Court possessed
of Rome. And it is thus far true, that they had five Bulls, Venetians
two of Sixtus the Fourth, one of Innocent the Eighth, one of b>' p;ant of
Alexander the Sixth, and the last of Paul the Third P. But it is '
as true, that none of these Bulls concerned any of the matters in
debate, but only the punishment of delinquent clergymen.
It hath been an old subtilty of the Popes, that when the
emperors or Councils had granted any ecclesiastical privilege
or honour to any person or society which it was not in their
power to cross, yet straightway their Bulls did fly abroad,
either of concession, or confirmation, or delegation, to make
the world believe that nothing could be done without them.
But how or by what right did the Venetians claim these
0 Pad. Paolo, Hist. Part, lib. iv. pp. Gaetano], Avertimcnti Veri, p. 24.
145-147. [Bologn. 1606.— not to be met with.]
p Nioomaco Filal. [scil. Cardin.
244
A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART
I.
[Differ
ence be
tween
Venice and
England in
their seve
ral depar
tures from
Roman
obedi
ence.]
[Differ
ence be
tween
Venice and
England in
their seve
ral depar
tures from
Roman
doctrine.]
privileges ? By virtue of any Papal Bulls ? No such thing.
But by the law of nature, as an essential right of sovereignty,
and by a most ancient custom of one thousand two hundred
years, that is, a thousand years before the first Bull was
dated, as appeareth by a letter of the Senate of Venice to the
Venetian commons their subjects 1.
2. Secondly, it may be urged further, that the Venetians 121
did not make a total and perpetual separation from Rome.
No more did England, if by Rome we understand the
Church of Rome. First, not total, but only "in particular
points wherein they were fallen, both from themselves in
their ancient integrity, and from the Apostolical Churches
which were their first founders," — which are the very words
of our canon r ; secondly, not perpetual, but only temporary,
—until their errors be amended and abuses reformed.
But if by Rome be understood the Roman Court) the case
of Venice and England is much different. They acknowledge
themselves to be justly subject to the Roman Patriarch ; we
do altogether deny his jurisdiction over us : the vicinity of
Venice renders them capable of receiving justice from Rome ;
which the distance of England, being so far divided by seas
and mountains, doth hinder us of : their interest invited
them to a conjunction with Rome ; ours is against it. But
yet they take care for their own security and indemnity, that
the Papacy which they submitted unto, should be toothless,
not able to bite them or injure them. If that Papacy
which they sought to have obtruded upon us, had been such
an one, in probability they had not so quickly been turned
out of doors,
3. Lastly, it may be objected, that the points in difference
between Rome and us be many more, than those which were
in difference between Rome and Venice. This indeed is
most true, but not much material. More or less do not vary
the kind or nature of any thing. Whether their liberties or
ours be of greater or lesser extent, is impertinent to our ques
tion. If Venice ought to enjoy their ancient liberties and
customs, then so ought England also. If the Venetians
9 [Lettera della Republ. e Senat. di
Venetia alle loro Communita, &c., May
6, 160G; in the] Raccolta degli Scritti,
pp. 9,
[Can.
1603,] can. 30.
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 245
ought to be the last judges of their own pretensions,, what DISCOURSE
their ancient customs and liberties were, then so ought we —
to be likewise : not the Pope and his Conclave of Cardinals,
which, if Venice would not endure, we have much less reason
to endure it. What canons have been received with us, and
how far, and where our shoe did wring us, none knew so well
as ourselves.
The chiefest difference between our case and that of [The chief-
. P est difter-
Vemce, seems to me to be this ; that we were put to an alter- ence be-
game, so were not they : they preserved their rights and Ca^e° and l
privileges, then in question, entire from the usurpations of y**.°£-,
the Roman Court ; we were necessitated in part to retrieve
and vindicate ours : theirs was properly a conservation ; ours
a reformation : they might thank the unanimity of their sub
jects, the loyalty of their clergy, and their nearer acquaintance
with Rome, for their advantage ; we might blame the barons'
wars, and the contentions between the houses of York and
Lancaster, and a kind of superstitious veneration of that See,
occasioned by our distance and want of experimental know
ledge, for our disadvantage.
But to come to the catastrophe of this business. Both The con-
sides grew weary of the difference. Christian princes me- the Vene.
diated a peace, especially the most Christian King. The £*" trou'
Venetians were contented to shake hands and be friends with
the Court of Rome ; but without any reparation, or submis
sion, or confession, or so much as a request, to be made on
their parts. They refused to abrogate any one of the laws
complained of. They refused (though the Pope did press it
most instantly, and the Cardinal Joyeuse did assure them
that it would be more acceptable to his Holiness than the
conquest of a kingdom) to readmit the banished persons into
their city. They refused to take an absolution from Rome ;
yea, they were so far from it, that, when the ambassador
intreated that the Duke might receive a benediction from
him publicly in the Church, both the Duke and the Senate
did resolutely oppose it, because it had some appearance of
an absolution.
A man would have thought that this might have sufficed
to have taught the Popes more wit, than to have hazarded
their reputation again, so near home, where they are so well
246
A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART
I.
known. But it did not. They adventured after this to make
their spiritual weapons subservient to their temporal ends, by
excommunicating and interdicting the Duke of Parma and
his subjects,, with little better success s.
I expect that it should be alleged, that all the projects of
France for a new Patriarchate,, and the Memorials of Castile,
and the Bleatings of Portugal, &c. were but personated shows,
to terrify Popes into their duties. And in part I do believe 122
it to be true. But withal they must yield thus much unto
me, that it is for children to be terrified with grimaces, or
painted vizards, which signify nothing. To work upon wise
men, there must be probable and just grounds, that such
things as are pretended may be, and will be, effected.
We have said enough to shew, that all Christian nations
do challenge this right to themselves, to be the last judges of
their own liberties and privileges.
CHAP. VIII.
The
Church,
but princi
pally the
Court, of
Rome is
four ways
guilty of
schism.
THAT THE POPE AND THE COURT OF ROME ARE MOST GUILTY OF THE
SCHISM.
I AM come now to my sixth and last proposition, which
brings the schism home to their own doors. Wherein I en
deavour to demonstrate, that the Church of Rome, or rather
the Pope and the Court of Rome, are causally guilty both of
this schism, and almost all other schisms in the Church.
First, by seeking to usurp a higher place and power in the
body ecclesiastical, than of right is due unto them. Secondly,
by separating, both by their doctrines and censures, three
parts of the Christian world from their communion, and, as
much as in them lies, from the communion of Christ. Thirdly,
by rebelling against general Councils. Lastly, by breaking
or taking away all the lines of Apostolical succession except
their own.
8 [For the quarrel of Urban VI 1 1.
with the Duke of Parina in 1640-1644,
see Rycaut's Lives of the Popes, in
Urban VIII., and Nani, Hist. Venet.,
lib. xii.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 247
1. First, they make the Church of Rome to be not only DISCOURSE
the sister of all other Patriarchal Churches, and the ' Mother
of many Churches/ but to be ' the Lady and Mistress of all church of
Churches * / to be not only a prime stone in the building,, us°™>s a
but the very foundation ; to be not only a respective higher
foundation, in relation to this or that time and place (as all bodyeccic-
the Apostles and all Apostolical Churches were, and all good than Is due
pastors and all orthodox Cl lurches are), but to be an abso- unto
lute foundation, for all persons, in all places, at all times, —
which is proper to Christ alone: "Other foundation can no iCor.iii.n.
man lay than that which is laid, even Jesus Christ." They
hold it not enough for the Roman Church to be a top
branch, unless it may be the root, of Christian religion, or at
least of all that jurisdiction which Christ left as a legacy to
His Church. In all which claim, by the Church of Rome
they understand not the ' essential ' Church, nor yet the
' representative ' Church — a Roman Synod, but the ' virtual '
Church which is invested with ecclesiastical power, that is,
the Pope with his Cardinals and ministers. When any
member how eminent soever scorns its proper place in the
body, whether natural, or political, or ecclesiastical, and seeks
to usurp the office of the Head, it must of necessity produce
a disorder and disturbance and confusion and schism of the
respective members. This is one degree of schismatical
pravity.
II. But, in the second place, we press the crime of schism [jr. The
more home against the Court of Rome, than against the Rome hath
Church of Rome. It is the Court of Rome, which,— partly by
obtruding new creeds and new articles of faith, and especially
this doctrine, that it is necessary for every Christian under world from
pain of damnation to be subject to the Bishop of Rome, as nion;]
the vicar of Christ by Divine ordination upon earth (that is, doctrines;]
in effect, to be subject to themselves who are his council
and officers), yea, even those who by reason of their remote
ness never heard of the name of Rome, without which it will
profit them nothing to have holden the Catholic Faith en
tirely, and partly by their tyrannical and uncharitable cen- [and by its
i ,-1-11,1 »•,- * P • /->i • censures.]
sures, — nave separated all the Asiatic, African, (Jrecian,
1 [S. Bernard., De Consider, adv. S. Rom. Imp., torn. ii. p. 88.]
Eugen. Pap., lib. iv. c. 7, ap. Goldast.,
248
A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART
I.
[HI. The
Bishops of
Rome have
rebelled
against
general
Councils.]
Russian, and Protestant, Churches from their communion ;
not only negatively,, in the way of Christian discretion, by
withdrawing of themselves for fear of infection, but privatively
and authoritatively, by way of jurisdiction, excluding them
(so much as in them lieth) from the communion of Christ ;
though those Churches so chased away by them contain three
times more Christian souls than the Church of Rome itself
with all its dependents and adherents ; many of which do
suffer more pressures for the testimony of Christ, than the
Romanists do gain advantages, and are ready to shed the last
drop of their blood for the least known particle of saving
truth; only because they will not strike topsail to the Pope's 123
cross-keys, nor buy indulgences and such like trinkets at
Rome. It is not passion, but action, that makes a schismatic ;
to desert the communion of Christians voluntarily, not to be
thrust away from it unwillingly. For divers years in the
beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign, there was no recusant
known in England ; but even they who were most addicted
to Roman opinions, yet frequented our churches and public
assemblies, and did join with us in the use of the same prayers
and Divine offices, without any scruple ; until they were pro
hibited by a Papal Bull, merely for the interest of the Roman
Court u. This was the true beginning of the schism between
us and them. I never yet heard any of that party charge
our Liturgy with any error, except of omission; — that it
wanted something which they would have inserted. I wish
theirs as free from exception, to try whether loe would shun
their communion in the public service of God : charity would
rather choose to want something that was lawful, than will
ingly to give occasion of offence.
III. But, to lay the axe to the root of schism, in the third
place ; — the Papacy itself (qua Mis), as it is now maintained
by many, with superiority above general Councils and a
sovereign power paramount to confirm or reject their sanc
tions, is the cause, either procreant, or conservant, or both,
of all or the most part of the schisms in Christendom x. To
rebel against the Catholic Church, and its representative, a
u [See the Replicat. to the Bp. of
Chalced., c, vii. (pp. 24], 242. fol.
edit), Discourse iii. Part i.]
x [See note E in Append, to Al>p.
Bramhall's Life, p. xvii.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 249
general Council,, which is the last visible judge of contro- DISCOURSE
versies and the supreme ecclesiastical court, either is gross — —
schism,, or there is no such thing as schismatical pravity in
the world.
I say, the Bishops of Rome have exempted themselves and
their Court from the jurisdiction of an (Ecumenical Council,,
and made themselves sovereign monarchs and Universal
Bishops, ee in totius Ecclesice injuriam et discissionem " — " to
the wrong of the Church, and renting it in pieces ?," making
themselves to be not only "fathers," but "masters of all Chris
tians" — it is the Pope's own expression in his letter to his
legate2; — contrary to their former professions of obedience
to the ecclesiastical constitutions of sovereign princes and
Synods a; contrary to their own laws, which allow appeals
from them so often as they transgress the canons, and sub
ject them to the judgment of the Church, not only in case of
heresy, which the most of themselves do acknowledge, and
schism and simony, which many of them do not deny, but
also of scandal b; contrary to so many appellations from
them by Christian princes, prelates, and universities c ; con
trary to the judgment of almost all the Cisalpine prelates,
Spanish, French, Dutch, assembled at Trent d ; contrary to
the decrees of so many Councils both general and provincial,
which have limited their jurisdiction, set down the true
reason of their greatness, rescinded their sentences, forbidden
appeals to them, condemned their pragmatical intrusion of
themselves into the affairs of other Churches as being con
trary to the decrees of the Fathers ; which have judged them,
and condemned them of heresy, schism, simony, and other
misdemeanors; which have deposed them by two or three
at a time, whereof one was undoubtedly the true Pope; —
these things are so obvious in the history of the Church, that
it were vanity and lost labour to prove them ; — but especially
contrary to the Councils of Constance and Basle, which have
y Greg. [M. Epist., lib. ix. Ep. 68, b [Id., ibid., P. ii. Causa] 2. Qu. 7-
Op. torn. ii. p. 984. D.] c. [41.] " Nos si incompetenter." —
z Hist. Concil. Trident, in an. 1563, Gloss, [in eund., P. i.] Distinct. 40.
lib. vii. [p. 529. ed. Lond. 1620. c. [6.] " Si Papa ;" [et in P. ii. Causa]
"Omnium Christianorum Patrem ac 9. Qu. 3. c. [13.] "Nemo."
Doctorem."'} c [See c. vii. pp. 217, 220, &c.]
a [Gratian., Decret, P. i.] Distinct. d Hist. Concil. Trident, lib. vii. et x.
10. c. [9.] " De Capitulis." [see p. 190, note r.]
250 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART decreed expressly, that 'the Pope is subject to a general
- Council, as well in matter of Faith, as of manners ; so as he
of the*36 may not only be corrected, but, if he be incorrigible, be de-
ConstScf Posed *' This is determined in the Council of Constance ;
and Basle.] and confirmed in the Council of Basle, with this addition,
that "whosoever opposeth this truth pertinaciously, is to be
reputed a heretic f."
[Objected This decree of the Council wounds deep, because it is so
confirmed evident and clear in the point, and because the decrees
Popelxj- thereof were confirmed by Martin the Fifth ; but the Roman-
cause not ists nave found out a salve for it, — that Pope Martin " con-
coneiliarly > m /•
made.] firmed only those decrees which were conciliarly made," that
is, with the influence and concurrence of the Pope, as the
condemnation of Wickliff and Huss ; but " not those decrees
which were not conciliarly made," that is, which wanted the
influence of the Pope, as the decree of the superiority of the
Council above the Pope, which ought to be understood (say
they) only of dubious Popes £.
For clearing of which doubt, I propose seAreral consider
ations.
The Pope's 1. First, that it is not material, whether the decree were 124
timfof™" confirmed by the Pope, or not. There are two sorts of con-
Councils of formation, approbative, and authoritative. Approbative con
firmation is by way of testimony, or suffrage, or reception ;
and so an inferior may confirm the acts of his superior; as it
[i Cor. vi. is said, that " the Saints shall judge the world," that is, by
their doctrine, by their example, and by their approbative
[Ps. cxix. suffrage ; — " Just art Thou, O Lord, and right are Thy judg
ments." Authoritative confirmation implies either a sole
legislative power, or at least a negative voice : whereas it is as
clear as the light, that the Popes anciently never had either
the one or the other in the Catholic Church ; we meet with
no confirmations of general Councils of old, but only by the
emperors, whereby ecclesiastical sanctions became civil laws,
and obliged all the subjects of the empire under a civil pain.
Wherefore it is no matter, whether the Pope confirmed the
e Concil. Constant. [A. D. 1415], pp. 477, 478, et 619, B.]
Sess. iv. [et v., ap. Labb., Concil., torn. E [Bellarm.,De Eccles. Milit, lib. ii.
xii. pp. 19. 23.] De Concil. Auctoritat., c. 19. Op. tom.i.
f Concil. Basil. [A. D. 1431]. Sess. pp.1222, 1223.]
ii. [Decret. 3 et 4, et Sess. xxxiii. ibid.,
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 251
decree or not, whether it was confirmed or unconfirmed : it DISCOURSE
lets us see what was the Catholic tradition, and the sense of — --'—
the Christian world in those days ; and we abide in it.
2. Secondly, I reply, that this decree was most conciliarly The de-
made, and consequently confirmed ; made after due examina-
tion and discussion, without any underhand packing or
labouring for voices ; made in the public session, not privately p°Pe.
before the deputies of the nations. For clearing whereof take made.
this dilemma. Either this decree and the subsequent acts
done by virtue and in execution thereof were conciliarly made
and confirmed, and consequently valid in the judgment of
the Romanists themselves, or unconciliarly made, and conse
quently, according to their rules, not confirmed but invalid.
If they grant, that this decree was conciliarly made and con
firmed, then they grant the question. If they say it was
not conciliarly made nor confirmed, then Martin the Fifth
was no true Pope, but an intruder and an usurper, and conse
quently his confirmation was of no value ; for in pursuance of
this very decree, and by virtue of that doctrine therein de
livered, the other Popes were deposed, and he was created
Popeh.
But to clear that passage from all ambiguity : — there were
in the Council of Constance the deputies of the nations, as a
selected committee to examine matters, and prosecute them,
and prepare them for the Council \ What was done apart
by these deputies, by this committee, was not conciliarly
done. But what was done in the public session of the
Council, upon their report, that was conciliarly done. Now
so it was, that one Falkenberch had published a danger
ous and seditious book, which had been complained of to
the deputies of the nations, and condemned by them; but
the conjoint body of the Council, in their public session, had
not condemned it conciliarly. Yet, after the Council was
ended, and after the Cardinal had given the Fathers their
conge, or leave to depart, and dismissed them with " Domini,,
ite in pace " — " Fathers, depart in peace," and the Fathers
had answered " Amen ;" when there was nothing left to do,
but to hear a sermon and begone ; the ambassadors of Polonia
h [This is Gerson's argument. See '* [Concil. Constant., Sess. iv., as
Bellarm., De Concil. Auctor., as before before quoted, p. 20.1
quoted, p. 1222, B.C.]
252
A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART
I.
[The de
cree not to
be under
stood only
of dubious
Popes.]
[viz. Bene
dict XIII.]
[IV. The
Popes have
broken or
taken away
all the lines
of Aposto
lical suc
cession ex
cept their
own.]
and Lithuania very unseasonably pressed the Pope to con
demn that book,, alleging, that it had been condemned by the
deputies of the nations : to which the Pope answered, that
"he confirmed only those acts of the Council which were
conciliarly made k ; " that is to say, not the acts of the de
puties of the nations apart, but the public acts of the whole
session. This is the genuine sense of that passage, which
bears its own evidence along with it to every one that doth
not wilfully shut his eyes. This was an accidental emergent,
after the Synod was ended, and not the solemn purposed
confirmation.
And concerning that gloss, — that the decree is to be
understood only of dubious Popes, or Popes whose title is
litigious, — as it contradicts the text itself, which includes all
dignitaries whosoever, of whatsoever title, peaceable or liti
gious, Popes or others, so it is sufficiently confuted by the
very execution of the decree. An inferior may declare the
lawful right of his superior, and, where there are divers pre
tenders, establish the possession in him that hath the best
title ; but to make right to be no right, to turn all pretenders
right or wrong out of possession, only by the last law of
' salus populi' &c. — 'for the tranquillity of the people/ this is
a prerogative of sovereign princes and a badge of legislative
authority. This was the very case of the Council of Con
stance ; they turned out all pretenders to the Papacy, the
right Pope and the antipopes all together; some of them
indeed by persuasion, but such persuasion as might not be 125
resisted ; and one whose title seemed clearest, which ren
dered their persuasions as unto him ineffectual, by plain
power: for so the Council, with the consent and concur
rence of Christian princes, did find it expedient for Christen
dom.
IV. Lastly, though the Popes do not abolish the order of
Bishops, or Episcopacy in the abstract, yet they limit the
power of Bishops in the concrete at their pleasure, by ex
emptions and reservations ; holding themselves to be the
Bishops of every particular See in the world during the
vacancy of it, and making all Episcopal jurisdiction to flow
from them, and to be founded in the Pope's laws ; — because
* [Ejusd. Sess. xlv. et ultima, ibid. p. 258.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 253
it was but delegated to the rest of the Apostles for term of DISCOURSE
life, but resided solely in St. Peter as an ordinary, to descend _ — _
from him to his successors Bishops of Rome, and to be im
parted by them to other Bishops as their vicars or coadju
tors, assumed by them into some part of their charge ^ By
this account the Pope must be the universal or only Bishop
of the world ; the keys must be his gift, not Christ's ; and all
the Apostles except St. Peter must want their successors in
Episcopal jurisdiction. What is this but to trample upon
Episcopacy, and to make them equivocal Bishops ; to dissolve
the primitive bonds of brotherly unity, to overthrow the dis
cipline instituted by Christ, and to take away the line of
Apostolical succession ?
The name of (Ecumenical or Universal Bishop is taken in [The name
three senses, one without controversy lawful, one contro- versa]1"
verted whether lawful or unlawful, and one undoubtedly
unlawful and schismatical.
1. In the first sense an Universal Bishop signifies no more [L A^ im_
than an eminent Bishop of the Universal Church, implying P1^1"" mii-
an universality of care and vigilance, but not of jurisdiction, of care.]
And in this sense all the five Proto-Patriarchs used more
emphatically to be called Universal Bishops ; either by rea
son of their reputation and influence upon the universal
Church, or their presidence in general Councils m.
2. In another sense, an Universal Bishop signifies such a [2. Asim-
Bishop who, besides an universal care, doth also challenge an versafity
universal jurisdiction. This was that title which John Bishop care°but of
of Constantinople affected ; — " omnibus praesse, nulli subesse ;" ^U0rnsnic~
and again, " cuncta Christi membra sibimet supponere Univer-
salitatis appellations" This was that title which Gregory
the Great and his predecessors refused (if they did refuse
any such title) ; for it were evident madness to fancy, that
ever any general Council did offer any particular Bishop the
title of the only Bishop of the world. This title in this sense
was that which Gregory himself did condemn, as a " vain/'
" profane," " wicked/' " blasphemous/' " Antichristian "
name n.
i [Bellarm., De Roman. Pontif., n Greg. M. Epist. lib. iv. Ep. 34 et
lib. i. c. 11. lib. iv. cc. 22, 24, 25.] 38. [Editt. before Bened — lib. v. Ep.
m [See Bellarm., ibid. lib. ii. c. 31, 21 et 18, Op. torn. ii. pp. 750, 751.
Op. torn. i. pp. 831—833. - Cave, 742. E. 743—746. ed. Bened.]
Governm, of Anc. Ch., c, vi. § 8 — 15.]
254
A JUST VINDICATION OF
[3. Exclu
sively, for
the only
Bishop of
the world.]
[V. Two
other no
velties
challenged
by the
Popes.]
[1. Infalli
bility of
judgment,]
3. Lastly, the name of Universal Bishop may be taken ex
clusively, for the only Bishop of the world. Which sense
was far enough from the intention either of Gregory the
Great, or John of Constantinople, who had both of them so
many true Archbishops and Bishops under them. But this
sense agrees well enough with the extravagant ambition of
the later Popes, and of the Roman Court, who do appro
priate all original jurisdiction to themselves.
So many ways is the Court of Rome guilty of schism atical
pravity.
V. Besides these branches of schism, there are yet two
other novelties challenged by the Popes and their parasitical
courtiers (but neither these nor the other yet defined by their
Church), both destructive to Christian unity, both apt to
breed and nourish, to procreate and conserve, schism ; an in
fallibility of judgment, and a temporal power over princes
either directly or indirectly.
1 . General and provincial Councils are the proper remedies
of schism. But this challenge of infallibility diminisheth
their authority, discrediteth their definitions, and maketh
them to be superfluous things. What needs so much ex
pense ? so many consultations ? so much travel of so many
poor old fallible Bishops from all the quarters of the world ?
when there is an infallible judge at Rome, that can determine
all questions in his own conclave, without danger of error.
Wras Marcellinus such an infallible judge when he burned
incense to idols0? or Liberius when he consented to the
Arians, and gave his suffrage to the condemnation of Blessed
Athanasius P ? or Honorius when he was condemned and
accursed in the sixth general Council for a Monothelite q ?
or John the Twenty- Second when he was condemned by the
theologues of Paris, before the king, with sound of trumpets,
for teaching that the souls of the just shall not see God until
the general Resurrection r ? Wrere those succeeding Popes, 1 2G
0 Concil. Sinuess. [(A.D. 303), ap.
Labb., Concil., torn. i. pp. 938, &C.J ;
ct Platin., in Vita Marcellini. [p. 36',
I-]
p Athanas., in Epist ad Solitar.
Vitam Agentes, [sen Hist. Arianor.
ad Monachos, § 42, Op. torn. i. p. 3b'8.
D. E.] — Hicron., in Chron. [ad ann.
351], et Catal. Eccles. Scriptor., [in
Fortunatiano, c. 97, ap. Fabric., Bibl.
Eccles., p. 185.]
q Concil. General. VI. [Constan-
tinop., A.I). 680.] Act. xiii, [ap. Labb.,
Concil., torn. vi. pp. 940, &c.]
r Gerson, Sermon on Easter Day,
[Op. P. iv. fol. 93. H.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 255
John, and Martin, and Formosus, and Stephen, and Roma- DISCOURSE
nus, and Theodorus, and John, and Benedictus, and Sergius,
who clashed one with another, and abrogated the decrees one
of another over and over again, such infallible judges ?
Neither is it mere " matter of fact8" to decree the ordina- vi.
tions of a lawful Bishop to be void. To omit many others. Theodo-
But howsoever they tell us, that " the first See cannot be JSJ^ix.
judged V I will not trouble myself about the credit of the |enecL iv.
authorities, whether they be true or counterfeit; nor whether A.D. 842-
the first See signify Rome alone, or any other of the five *
Proto-Patriarchates. Thus much is certain, that by judg
ment of discretion any private man may judge the Pope, and
withdraw from him in his errors, and resist him if he invade
either the bodies or the souls of men, as Bellarmine con-
fesseth u : that in the court of conscience every ordinary
pastor may judge him, and bind him, and loose him, as an
ordinary man : and, by their leaves, in the external court,
by coercive power, if he commit civil crimes, the emperor ; if
ecclesiastical, a Council, or the emperor with a Council, may
judge him ; and in some cases declare him to be fallen from
his Papal dignity by the sentence of the law, in other cases,
if he be incorrigible, depose him by the sentence of the
judge. But there is a great difference between the judg
ment of subjects (as those ecclesiastics were) and. the judg
ment of a sovereign prince ; between the judgment of a
general Council, and the judgment of an assembly of Suffra
gans and inferiors. And yet the Roman clergy are known
to have deposed Liberius their own Bishop x ; and justly, or
otherwise Felix their Martyr had been a schismatic.
2. Their other challenge of temporal power, whether directly, [2. A tcm-
or indirectly and " in ordine ad spiritualia y," cannot choose power over
but render all Christians, especially sovereign princes, jealous either di-
and suspicious of their power, and averse from the commu-
nion of those persons, who maintain so dangerous positions
so destructive to their propriety. The power of the keys
« [Bellarm., De Pvoman. Pontif., u [De Roman. Pontif., lib. ii. c. 29.
lib. iv. c. 12, Op. tom.i. p 999. D, speak- as before p. 820. A.]
ing of Stepben VI. and Sergius III.] x [Baron., Annal., torn, iii, in an.
* Concil. Sinuess., [ap. Labb., Con- 357, num. 44.]
cil., torn. i. p. 943.] et Roman. [(A.D. v [Bellarm., De. R. P., lib. v. c. 6,
324) c. 20, ibid. p. 1555.] as before p. 1062. D.]
256
A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART
T.
doth not extend itself to any secular rights, neither can ec
clesiastical censures alter or invalidate the laws of God and
nature, or the municipal laws of a land ; all which do enjoin
the obedience of children to their parents and of subjects to
their sovereigns. Gregory the Seventh began this practice
against Henry the Fourth. But what Gregory did bind
upon earth, God Almighty did not bind in Heaven. His
Papal blessing turned to a curse ; and, instead of an imperial
crown, Eodolph found the just reward of his treason z.
The best is, that they who give these exorbitant privileges
to Popes, do it with so many cautions and reservations, that
they signify nothing, and may be taken away with as much
ease as they are given.
The Pope (say they) is infallible, not in his chamber, but
in his Chair; not in the premises, but in the conclusion;
not in conclusions of matter of fact, but in conclusions of
matter of Faith; not always in all conclusions of matter of
Faith, but only when he useth the right means and due
diligence a. And who knoweth when he doth that? So
every Christian is infallible, if he would and could keep him
self to the infallible rule which God hath given him. ' Take
nothing, and hold it fast/
So likewise for his temporal power over princes, they say
the Pope, not as Pope, but as a spiritual prince, hath a
certain kind of power, temporal, but not merely temporal ;
not directly, but indirectly and in order to spiritual things b.
" Quo teneam vidtus mutantem Protect nodo ? c "
CHAP. IX. 127
AN ANSWER TO THE OBJECTIONS BROUGHT BY THE ROMANISTS, TO PROVE
THE ENGLISH PROTESTANTS TO BE SCHISMATICS.
BUT it is not enough to charge the Court of Rome, unless
we can discharge ourselves, and acquit our own Church of
the guilt of schism, which they seek to cast upon us.
z [See Bowden's Life of Greg. VII,
bk. iii. c. 17.]
a [Bellarm., De R. P., lib. iv. c. 2.]
[Id., ibid., lib. v. c. 6.]
[Horat, Epist., i. 1. 90.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 257
I. First, they object,, that we have separated ourselves schis- DISCOURSE
matically from the communion of the Catholic Church. n>
God forbid. Then we will acknowledge, without any more i. We have
to do, that we have separated ourselves from Christ, and all ratecfour-
His Holy Ordinances, and from the benefit of His Passion, f£Iv^s [uom
and all hope of salvation. lie Church.
But the truth is, we have no otherwise separated ourselves
from the communion of the Catholic Church, than all the
primitive orthodox Fathers and Doctors and Churches did
long before us, that is, in the opinion of the Donatists, as we
do now in the opinion of the Romanists ; because the
Romanists limit the Catholic Church now to Rome in Italy
and those Churches that are subordinate to it, as the
Donatists did then to Cartenna in Africk and those Churches
that adhered to it. We are so far from separating ourselves
from the communion of the Catholic Church, that we make
the communion of the Christian Church to be thrice more
Catholic than the Romanists themselves do make it, and
maintain communion with thrice so many Christians, as they
do. By how much our Church should make itself, as the
case stands, more Roman than it is, by so much it should
thereby become less Catholic than it is.
I have shewed before d, out of the canons and constitutions
of our Church, that we have not separated ourselves simply
and absolutely from the communion of any particular Church
whatsoever, even the Roman itself so far forth as it is
Catholic, but only from their errors, wherein they had first
separated themselves from their predecessors.
To this I add, that it was not we, but the Court of Rome
itself, that first separated England from the communion of
the Church of Rome, by their unjust censures, excommunica
tions, and interdictions, which they thundered out against
the realm for denying their spiritual sovereignty by Divine
right, before the reformation made by Protestants6.
II. Secondly, we are charged with schismatical contumacy fii. We are
and disobedience to the decrees and determinations of the m^c?ousto-
general Council of Trent. CounVnof
But we believe that convent of Trent to have been no Trent.]
o [c. vi. pp. 197—199.] Sander., De Schism., lib. i. pp. [131,
c Bull. Paul. III. [A.D. 1535], ap. sq. ed. 1610.]
BRAMHALL. e
258
A JUST VINDICATION Or
general, nor yet patriarchal; no free, no lawful,, Council.
How was that general, where there was not any one Bishop
eUof Trent out of all the other Patriarchates, or any proctors or com-
P A R T
I.
not gene
ral.
Nor free
missioners from them, either present, or summoned to be
present, except peradventure some titular European mock,
prelates without cures, such as Olaus Magnus, intituled
Archbishop of Upsala, or Sir Robert the Scottish-man,
intituled Archbishop of Armagh f ? How was that general,
or so much as patriarchal, where so great a part of the West
was absent, wherein there were twice so many Episcopelles
out of Italy (the Pope's professed vassals, and many of them
his hungry parasitical pensioners), as there were out of all
other Christian kingdoms and nations put togethers ? How
was that general, wherein there were not so many Bishops
present, at the determination of the weightiest controversies
concerning the rule of Faith and the exposition thereof, as
the king of England could have called together in his own
dominions at any one time upon a month's warnings ? How
was that general, which was not generally received by all
Churches ? even some of the Roman communion not admitting
ith. We have seen heretofore, how the French ambassador,
in the name of the king and Church of France, protested 128
against it 'l ; and until this day, though they do not oppose it,
but acquiesce, to avoid such disadvantages as must ensue
thereupon, yet they did never admit it. Let no man say,
that they rejected the determinations thereof only in point of
discipline, not of doctrine ; for the same canonical obedience
is equally due to an acknowledged general Council in point
of discipline, as in point of doctrine. And as it was not
general, so neither was it free, nor lawful : not free ; — where
the place could afford no security to the one party, where the
accuser was to be the judgeJ, where any one that spake a free
f [Sleidan, Comment, de Statu Relig.
et Reipubl., Carolo V. Csesare, lib. xvii.
p. 488, Francof. 1610.]
8 [Of thirty-three Bishops who were
present at the opening of the Council
of Trent in 1546, twenty- five were
Italians (Sleidan, ibid.). Of sixty-two
present in the 16th Session, in 1552,
twenty- two were Italians (Sleidan, ibid,
lib. xxiii. p. 693.). Of 267 present in
the last Session, in 1563, 187 were
Italians (Richer., Hist. Concil. Gener.,
lib. iv. p. ii. c. 5, § 7.). That the Pope
pensioned Bishops there, seeFra Paolo's
Hist du Cone, de Trente par Courayer,
lib. ii. cc. 20, 29, liv. vi. c. 23.]
h [See the Hist, du Cone, de Trente,
liv. viii. cc. 85 — 88, and Append. No.L]
1 [c. vii. p. 221, note r.J
j Sleid., lib. xvii. [in an. 1546,
p. 490.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 259
word had his mouth stopped, or was turned out of the Council k, DISCOURSE
where the few Protestants, that adventured to come thither, -
were not admitted to dispute1, where the legates "gave auricular
votes01," where the Fathers were noted to be guided by " the
Spirit sent from Rome in a mail"," where divers, not only new
Bishops, but new Bishoprics, were created, during the sitting
of the convent, to make the Papalins able to over- vote the
Tramontanes ° : nor yet lawful ; — in regard of the place, which Nor lawful,
ought to have been in Germany ; ' actor debet rei forum sequV
— ( a guilty person is to be judged in his province/ and the
cause to be pleaded where the crime was committed; and
likewise in regard of the judge ; in every judgment there
ought to be four distinct persons, the accuser, the witness,
the guilty person, and the judge ; but in the Council of Trent,
the Pope by himself or his ministers acted all these parts him
self; he was the right guilty person, and yet withal the accuser
of the Protestants, the witness against them, and their judge ;
lastly, no man can be lawfully condemned before he be heard ;
but in this Council the Protestants were not allowed to pro
pose their case, much less to defend it by lawful disputation p.
III. Thirdly, it is objected, and here they think they have in. We
us sure locked up, that we cannot deny but that the Bishop subtracted
of Rome was our Patriarch, and that we have rebelled against ^nce6'
him, and cast off our canonical obedience in our Reformation. from our
To this supposed killing argument I give three clear Patriarch.
solutions.
1 . First, that the British Islands neither were, nor ought j^T ^e
to be, subject to the jurisdiction of the Reman Patriarch, as islands
hath been sufficiently demonstrated in my third conclusion^, nor ought
For all Patriarchal jurisdiction, being of human institution, ^ to'the
must proceed either from some canon or decree of a general jurisdiction
Council, or of such a provincial Council as had power to Roman
oblige the Britons to obedience ; or from the grant or con
cession of some of their sovereign princes; or from the
k [Hist, du Cone, de Trente, liv. ii. ed. 1640.]
c. 61.] ° [C. Molin., Consil. super fact.
i [Sleid., lib. xxiii. in an. 1552, Concil. Trid., § 21. — Expos. Caus., ob
pp. 686—692.] quas Elector. &c. Imp. Germ. Concil.
m [A saying of Lanssac or Du Bel- Trid. non agnoscant (A. D. 1562), ep.
lay, in reference to their intriguing for Goldast., Polit. Imper. P. xxvii. num. x.
votes : Hist, du Cone, de Trente, liv. vii. pp. 1268, 1269.]
c. 21.] P Sleid. lib. xxiii. [pp. 686, sq.]
n Hist. Concil. Trid. [bk. vi. p. 497, q [c. v. pp. 152, &c.]
s 2
260 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART voluntary submission of a free people ; or, lastly, from
custom and prescription. If they had any such canon, or
grant, or submission, they would quickly produce it ; but we
know they cannot. If they plead custom and prescription
immemorial, the burden must rest upon them to prove it ;
but when they have searched all the authors over and over
who have written of British affairs in those days, and all
their records and registers, they shall not be able to find any
one act, or so much as any one footstep, or the least sign, of
any Roman Patriarchal jurisdiction in Britain, or over the
Britons, for the first six hundred years ; and for after-ages,
the Roman Bishops neither held their old patriarchate, nor
gained any quiet settled possession of their new monarchy.
[2. Patri- 2. Secondly, I answer, that Patriarchal power is not of
power is Divine right, but human institution ; and therefore may
Divine either be quitted, or forfeited, or transferred : and if ever the
for "d Bishops of Rome had any Patriarchal jurisdiction in Britain,
may either yet they had both quitted it. and forfeited it over and over
be Quitted
or forfeited again, and it was lawfully transferred. To separate from an
ferred!]" ecclesiastical authority which is disclaimed and disavowed by
the pretenders to it, and forfeited by abuse and rebellion,
and lawfully transferred, is no schism.
TheRoman a> First, I say, they quitted their pretended Patriarchal right,
when they assumed and usurped to themselves the name
their Pa- anc[ thing of Universal Bishops, Spiritual Sovereigns, and
sole Monarchs of the Church, and Masters of all Christians.
To be a Patriarch, and to be an Universal Bishop in that
sense r, are inconsistent, and imply a contradiction in adjecto :
the one professeth human, the other challengeth Divine,
institution ; the one hath a limited jurisdiction over a certain 129
province, the other pretendeth to an unlimited jurisdiction
over the whole world; the one is subject to the canons of the
Fathers, and a mere executor of them, and can do nothing
either against them, or besides them ; the other challengeth
an absolute sovereignty above the canons, besides the canons,
against the canons, to make them, to abrogate them, to sus
pend their influence by a non-obstante, to dispense with
them in such cases wherein the canon gives no dispensative
power, at his own pleasure, when he will, where he will, to
r [See preceding chap., pp. 253, 254.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 261
whom he will. Therefore to claim a power paramount and DISCOURSE
sovereign monarchical royalty over the Church, is implicitly — — —
and in effect to disclaim a Patriarchal aristocratical dignity.
So,
" Non tellus cymbam, tellurem cymba reliquit ;" —
it was not we that deserted our pretended Patriarch, but
our pretended Patriarch deserted his Patriarchal office. So
long as the Popes contented themselves with Patriarchal
rights, they soared no higher than to be the executors of the
canons. When Acacius complained that he was condemned
by the sole authority of the Roman Bishop without a synodal
sentence, Gelasius the Pope then pleaded for himself, that
"Acacius was not the beginner of a new error, but the
follower of an old ; and therefore it was not necessary that a
new synodal sentence should be given against him, but that
the old should be executed : therefore" (saith he) te I have
only put an old sentence in execution, not promulged a new8."
ft. And as they had quitted their title, so likewise they had And/or-
forfeited it, both by their rebellion, and by their exorbitant feitedli>
abuses.
First, by their notorious rebellion against general Councils. By rebel-
The authority of an inferior ceaseth when he renounceth ll(
his loyalty to his superior, from whom he derives his power.
A general Council is the supreme ecclesiastical power, to
which Patriarchal power was always subordinate and subject.
General Councils with the consent of sovereign princes have
exempted cities and provinces from Patriarchal jurisdiction * ;
with the consent of sovereign princes they have erected new
Patriarchates, as at Hierusalem and Constantinople11; and
made the Patriarch of Constantinople equal in all privileges
to the Patriarch of old Rome*. Against this supreme eccle
siastical power the Popes have not only rebelled themselves,
but have compelled all Bishops under their jurisdiction to
take an oath to maintain their rebellious usurpations.
When a president of a province shall rebel against his
s Gelas., [ap. Gratian., Decret., P.ii. Concil. Chalced. (A.D. 451.) Act. vii.,
Causa] 24, Qu. 1. c. 1. ibid., torn. iv. pp.612 — 617. SeeBingh.,
1 Concil. Constantinop. [sen Trullan. bk. ii. c. 16. § 1 1 Concil. Constantinop.
A.D. 692.] can. 39. [ap. Labb., Con- (A.D. 381) can. 3. ibid., torn. ii. p.
cil., torn. vi. pp. 1160, 1161.] 947.]
u [Concil. Nicsen. [A. D. 323] can. 7. * Concil. Chalced. can. 28. [ap.
[ap. Labb., Concil., torn. ii. p. 32. — Labb., Concil., torn. iv. p. 769.]
262 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART sovereign prince, and seek to usurp the whole empire to
- himself, and impose new oaths of allegiance upon his fellow-
subjects, it is not treason but loyalty in them to thrust him
by the head and shoulders out of the gates of their city.
When a steward not imposed upon the family by the master,
but chosen in trust by his fellow-servants during their
master's absence, shall so far violate his trust, that he will by
force make himself the master of the family, and usurp a
dominion, not only over his fellows, but over his master's wife
and children, and oblige his fellow-servants to acknowledge
an independent sovereign power in him; it is not want of
duty, but fidelity, to substract their obedience from him.
This is our case with the Roman Bishops. They have sought
to usurp a dominion over the Catholic Church, the Spouse of
Christ, and all their fellow-servants. Then ought not all
good Christians to adhere to the Catholic Church, and desert
a schismatical Patriarch? They have rebelled against the
representative Church, a general Council. Should we involve
ourselves in their rebellion and perjury, by swearing to main
tain and make good their usurpations ?
I confess, inferiors are not competent judges of their
superiors ; but in this case of a subordinate superior, and in
a matter of heresy or schism already defined by the Church,
the sentence of the judge is not necessary ; the sentence of
the law and the notoriety of the fact are sufficient. It is not
we that judge him, but the Councils of Constance and Basle.
Neither could our ancestors hope to have a general Council
suddenly, whilst so great a part of Christendom was under
the Turk ; nor a free occidental Council, whilst the usurper
had all ecclesiastical power in his hands. What remained
then, but to reform themselves ? According to the sage
advice of Gerson, " I see that the reformation of the Church
will never be effected by a Council, without the presidence of
a well affected, wise, and constant guide. Let the members
therefore provide for themselves throughout the kingdoms
and provinces, when they shall be able, and know how to
compass this work^."
And by Moreover, as they have forfeited their power by their i;
rebellion, so they have most justly also by their rapine,
v Gereon, [Dial.] Apolog., de Concil. Constant., [Op.] P. iii. [fol. 300, Z.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 263
extortions, and terrible and exorbitant abuses, the most DISCOURSE
shameful abuses that ever were committed by persons trusted. -
To pass by the Hundred Grievances of Germany, the com
plaints and protestations and Pragmatical Sanctions of France,
the Memorials of Castile, the Sobs of Portugal ; and to con
fine my discourse to the sufferings of our own nation, which
have been more particularly related already in this treatise,
when I set down the grounds of our Reformation2.
They robbed the king of his investitures of Bishops, which
Henry the First protested to the Pope himself by his proctor,
that he would not lose for his kingdom, and added threat-
enings to his protestations a : yet, to gratify Anselm, who
(though otherwise most deserving) was the first violator of
the ancient customs of our kingdom in that kind, he waved
his right b; but soon after resumed it, made Rodolph Bishop
of London Archbishop of Canterbury, and invested him by a
crosier and a ring c. The like he did to many others. They
robbed the king of his patronages, by their collations, and
provisions, and expectative graces. Two or three or ten
benefices were not accounted sufficient for a Roman courtier
in those days, but a hundred, or two hundred, or mored.
They robbed him of the last appeals of his subjects, contrary
to the ancient laws of England6. They fomented the rebellion
of his own subjects at home, sometimes of his barons, sometimes
of his Bishops, playing fast and loose onboth sidesfor advantage.
They disinherited him of his crown. They gave away his king
dom for a prey to a foreign prince. They incited strangers
to make war against him. And they themselves by mere col
lusion and tricks had well near thrust him out of his throne.
They robbed the clergy in a manner of their whole juris
diction by their exemptions, and reservations, and visitations,
and suspensions, and appeals, and legantine courts, and nun
ciatures, "thrusting their sickles into every man's harvest f."
They robbed them of their estates and livelihoods, by their
provisions, and pensions, by their coadjutorships, and first-
z [c vi pp. 179—192.] Rer. Expetend. et Fugiend., p. 559.]
a Matth. Paris., in an. 1103. [p. 59.] c Matth. Paris., in an. 1164. [pp.
b Idem, in an. 1107. [p. 63.] 102, 103.]
< [Idem.,] in an. 1113. [p. 65.] f [Bernard., De Consider, in Papam,
d Nich. de Clamengiis, De Corrupto lib. i.,^ap. Goldast, S. Rom. Imp., torn.
Eccles. Statu, [in Append, ad Fascic. ii. p 70.]
264
A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART
I.
[Their]
Patriarchal
power was
lawfully
transferred.
The power
which we
rejected
was not
Patriarchal
nor cano
nical.
fruits, and tenths, by the vast charge of their investitures,
and palls, and I know not how many other sorts of exactions
and arbitrary impositions. The most ancient of these was the
pall, whereof our king Canutus complained long since at
Rome, and had remedy promised em
They robbed the nobility and commonalty many ways, as
hath been formerly related.
If all these were not a sufficient cause of forfeiture, certainly
abuse did never forfeit office.
y. And though they had sometimes had a just Patriarchal
power, and had neither forfeited it by rebellion nor abuse ;
yet, the king and the whole body of the kingdom, by their
legislative power, substracting their obedience from them and
erecting a new Patriarchate within their own dominions, it is
a sufficient warrant for all Englishmen to suspend their obe
dience to the one, and apply themselves to the other, for the
welfare and tranquillity of the whole body politic, as hath
before been declared11.
3. Thirdly, I answer, that obedience to a just Patriarch
is of no larger extent than the canons of the Fathers do
enjoin it ; and, since the division of Britain from the empire,
no canons are, or ever were, of force with us, further than they
were received and by their incorporation became Britannic
laws ; which, as they cannot, nor ever could, be imposed upon
the king and kingdom by a foreign Patriarch by constraint,
so, when they are found by experience prejudicial to the
public good, they may as freely, by the same king and king
dom, be rejected.
But I shall wind up this string a little higher ; suppose
that the whole body of the canon law were in force in Eng
land (which it never was), yet neither the Papal power which
we have cashiered, nor any part of it, was ever given to
any Patriarch by the ancient canons, and by consequence
the separation is not schismatical nor any withdrawing of
canonical obedience. What power a Metropolitan had over
the Bishops of his own province by the canon-law, the same
and no other had a Patriarch over the Metropolitans and
Bishops of sundry provinces within his own Patriarchate;
K Baron., Annal., torn, xi., in an.
1027. [num. 4.]
h [c. vi. pp. 177, 178.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 265
but a Metropolitan anciently could do nothing out of his own DISCOURSE
diocese without the concurrence of the major part of the : —
131 Bishops of his province ; nor the Patriarch in like manner
without the advice and consent of his Metropolitans and
Bishops.
Wherein then consisted Patriarchal authority? In or
daining their Metropolitans (for with inferior Bishops they
might not meddle), or confirming them, or imposing of
hands ; in giving the pall : in convocating Patriarchal synods,
and presiding in them ; in pronouncing sentence according
to the plurality of voices (that was, when Metropolitical
synods did not suffice to determine some emergent diffi
culties or differences) : and, lastly, in some few honorary pri
vileges, as the acclamation of the Bishops to them at the
latter end of a general Council, and the like, which signify
not much *. In all this there is nothing that we dislike or
would seek to have abrogated. Never any Patriarch was
guilty of those exactions, extortions, encroachments upon the
civil rights of princes and their subjects, or upon the eccle
siastical rights of Bishops, or of those provisions, and pen
sions, and exemptions, and reservations, and dispensations,
and inhibitions, and pardons, and indulgences, and usurped
sovereignty, which our Reformers banished out of England.
And therefore their separation was not any ways from
Patriarchal authority.
I confess, that by reason of the great difficulty and charge
of convocating so many Bishops, and keeping them so long
together until all causes were heard and determined, and by
reason of those inconveniencies which did fall upon their
Churches in their absence, provincial Councils were first
reduced from twice to once in the year, and afterwards to
once in three years k. And in process of time the hearing of
appeals and such like causes, and the execution of the canons
in that behalf, were referred to Metropolitans; until the
Papacy swallowed up all the authority of Patriarchs, and
Metropolitans, and Bishops. " Serpens serpent em nisi ederet,
non fieret draco l"
1 [Bingh., Orig. Eccles. bk. ii. c. c. 57. § 8.]
17. § 12—19.] ' [See Erasm., Adag., Chil. iii. Cent.
* [Bingh.,bk.i. c. 10. §3. — Thomass., 3. Prov. 61.]
Eccles. Vet. et Nov. Discipl. P. ii. lib. iii.
266 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART IV. Peradventure it may be urged in the fourth place, that
- '• - Gregory the Great, who by his ministers was the first con-
j V.Gregory
the Great verter of the English nation about the six hundredth year of
noqpatri- °ur Lord, did thereby acquire to himself and his successors a
Patriarchal authority and power over England for the future.
by the con- We do with all due thankfulness to God. and honourable
version of
it, respect to his memory, acknowledge, that that blessed Saint
was the chief instrument, under God, to hold forth the first
light of saving truth to the English nation, who did formerly
[Lu. 1.79.] " sit in darkness and in the shadow of death;" whereby he
did more truly merit the name of Great, than by possessing
the chair of St. Peter. And therefore whilst the sometimes
flourishing, now poor persecuted, Church of England, shall
have any being,
" Semper houos nomenque suum laudesque manebunt m."
But whether this benefit did intitle St. Gregory and his
successors to the Patriarchate of all or any part of the
British Islands, deserves a further consideration.
[Consider- 1. First, consider, that at that time (and until this day),
ation i.] half of Britain itself and two third parts of the Britannic
Islands did remain in the possession of the Britons, or
Scottish and Irish, who still continued Christians, and had
their Bishops and Protarchs or Patriarchs of their own ;
from whom we do derive in part our Christianity, and Holy
Orders, and privileges. Without all controversy the con
version of the Saxons by St. Gregory could not prejudice the
just liberties of them or their successors.
[Consider- 2. Secondly, consider, that the half of Britain which was
ation 2.] conquered and possessed by the Saxons, was not solely and
altogether peopled by Saxons. A world of British Christians
did remain and inhabit among the conquerors. For we do
not find, either that the Saxons did go about to extirpate
the British nation, or compel them to turn renegadoes from
their religion, or so much as demolish their churches • but
contented themselves to chase away persons of eminency and
parts and power, whom they had reason to suspect and fear ;
and made use of vulgar persons and spirits for their own
advantage. This is certain, that, Britain being an island
whither there is no access by land, all those who were trans-
m [y£n. i. 609.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 267
ported, or could have been transported, by sea on such a DISCOURSE
sudden, could not of themselves alone, in probability of rea- -
son, have planted or peopled the sixth part of so much land
132 as was really possessed by the Saxons. And therefore we
need not wonder if Queen Bertha, a Galloise and a Christian,
did find a congregation of Christians at Canterbury to join
with her in her religion, and a church called St. Martin's
builded to her hand, and stood in need of Lethargus a
Bishop to order the affairs of Christian religion, before ever
St. Austin set foot upon English ground n. Neither did the
British want their churches in other places also, as appears
by that commission which the king did give to Austin
(among other things), to repair the church'es that were
decayed °. These poor subdued persons had as much right
to their ancient privileges, as the rest of the unconquered
Britons.
3. Thirdly, consider, that all that part of Britain which [Consider-
was both conquered and inhabited by the Saxons, was not a
one entire monarchy, but divided into seven distinct king
doms, which were not so suddenly converted to the Christian
Faith all at once, but in long tract of time, long after
St. Gregory slept with his fathers, upon several occasions, by
several persons. It was Kent (and some few adjacent
counties), that was converted by Austin. It is true, that
Ethelbert king of Kent, after his own conversion, did en
deavour to have planted the Christian Faith both in the
kingdoms of Northumberland and the East- Angles, with fair
hopes of good success for a season. But, alas, it wanted
root ; within a short time both kings and kingdoms apostated
from Christ, and forsook their religion P. The kingdoms of
the West Saxons and of the South Saxons under Kingils
their king, who did unite the heptarchy into a monarchy,
were converted by the preaching of Berinus an Italian, by
the persuasions of Oswald king of Northumberland (i. Oswald
king of Northumberland was baptized in Scotland, and reli
gion luckily planted in that kingdom by Aidan a Scottish
n Bed., [Hist. Eccles.,] lib. i. cc. c. 1.]
25,26. [Luidhardus.l q Speed, [Chron.,] in the Kings of
° Bed., [ibid.,] lib. i. c. 26. the West Saxons, an. 612. [p. 305. § 6.
p [Id., ibid., lib. ii. cc. 9, 15, lib. iii. Ed. Lond. 1627.]
268
A JUST VINDICATION OF
[Consider
ation 4. ]
[Consider
ations.]
Bishop r. Penda king of Mercia was converted and christened
by Finanus, successor of Aidan, by the means of a marriage
with a Christian princess of the royal family of Northumber
land8. Sigibert king of the East Angles, in whose days,
and by whose means, religion took root among the East
Saxons, was converted and christened in France *. All these
Saxons which were converted by Britons or Scots, may as
justly plead for their old immunities as the Britons them
selves. We acknowledge St. Gregory to have been the first
that did break the ice. And yet we see how small a propor
tion of the inhabitants of the British Islands do owe their
conversion to Rome, in probability not a tenth part.
4. Fourthly, consider, that the conversion of a nation to
the Christian Faith is a good ground in equity (all other
circumstances concurring), why they should rather submit
themselves, or a general Council assign them, to that See
that converted them, than to any other Patriarchate ; as was
justly pleaded in the case between the Bishops of Rome and
Constantinople about the right of jurisdiction over the Bul
garians u ; but the conversion of a nation is no ground at all
to invest their converter presently with Patriarchal authority
over them, or any ecclesiastical superiority : especially where
too great a distance of place doth render such jurisdiction
useless and burdensome ; and most especially where it cannot
be done without prejudice to a former owner, thrust out of
his just right merely by the power of the sword (as the
British Primates were), or to the subjecting of a free nation
to a foreign prelate without or beyond their own consent.
In probability of reason the Britons owed their first con
version to the Eastern Church, as appeareth by their accord
with them in Baptismal rites, and the observation of Easter ;
yet never were subject to any eastern Patriarch. Sundry of
our British and English Bishops have converted foreign
nations, yet never pretended to any jurisdiction over them.
5. Fifthly and lastly, consider, that, whatsoever title or
right St. Gregory did acquire, or might have acquired, by his
r Bed., [Hist. Eccles.,] lib. iii. cc.
4 et 5.
9 Bed., [ibid.,] lib. iii. c. 21.
1 Speed, [Chron.,] in the Kings of
the East Angles, an. [636, p. 326. § 5.]
u [Vita Hadrian. II. Pap., in Labb.',
Concil., torn. viii. p. 893. — in an. 869.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 269
piety and deserts towards the English nation, it was per- DISCOURSE
sonal, and could not descend from him to such successors, -
who both forfeited it many ways, and quickly (within four or
five years) after his death quitted their Patriarchate, and set
a higher title to a spiritual monarchy on foot, whilst the
most part of England remained yet Pagan, when Pope Boni
face did obtain of Phocas the usurper (an usurping Pope
from an usurping emperor) to be Universal Bishop x.
V. Their cannon-shot is past ; that which remains is but a [v; Minor
small volley of musquets. They add, that we have schis- tions.]
matically separated ourselves from the communion of our
ancestors, whom we believe to be damned; that we have
133 separated ourselves from our ecclesiastical predecessors, by
breaking in sunder the line of Apostolical succession, whilst
our Presbyters did take upon them to ordain Bishops, and to
propagate to their successors more than they received from
their predecessors; that our Presbyters are but equivocal
Presbyters, wanting both the right matter and form of Pres-
byterial Ordination (to extinguish the Order is more schis-
matical, than to decline their authority) ; and, lastly, that we
derive our Episcopal jurisdiction from the crown.
1. First, for our natural fathers, the answer is easy. We i.We con-
do not condemn them, nor separate ourselves from them. Ou™fathers.
Charity requires us both to think well, and speak well, of
them. But prudence commands us likewise to look well to
ourselves. We believe our fathers might partake of some
errors of the Roman Church; we do not believe that they
were guilty of any heretical pravity, but held always the
truth implicitly in the preparation of their minds, and were
always ready to receive it when God should be pleased to
reveal it. Upon these grounds, we are so far from damning
'them, that we are confident they were saved by a general re
pentance. He, that searcheth carefully into his own heart
to find out his errors, and repenteth truly of all his known
sins, and beggeth pardon for his unknown errors proceeding
out of invincible, or but probable, ignorance, in God's accep
tation repenteth of all. Otherwise the very best of Christians
were in a miserable condition. For " who can tell how oft 12. prayer
heoffendeth?"
* [See pp. 131,158.]
270 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART 2. The second accusation of Priests consecrating Bishops,
'- is grounded upon a senseless fabulous fiction, made by a man
Bishops °f a leaden heart and a brazen forehead, of I know not what
Sained assembly of some of our Reformers at the sign of the NagV
by Presby- head in Cheapside, or rather devised by their malicious ene-
fpjX
mies at the sign of the "Whetstone in PopeVhead-Alley.
Against which lying groundless drowsy dream, we produce
in the very point the authentic records of our Church, of
things not acted in a corner, but publicly and solemnly,
recorded by public notaries, preserved in public registers,
whither every one that desired to see them might have
access, and published to the world in print whilst there were
thousands of eye-witnesses living, that could have contra
dicted them if they had been feigned y. There is no more
certainty of the coronation of Henry the Eighth, or Edward
the Sixth, than there is of that ordination, which alone they
have been pleased to question, done not by one (as Austin
consecrated the first Saxon prelates), but by five z, conse
crated Bishops. Let them name the person or persons, and,
if they were Bishops of the Church of England, we will shew
them the day, the place, the persons, when, and where,
and by whom, and before what public notaries or sworn
officers, they were ordained; and this, not by uncertain
rumours, but by the acts and instruments themselves. Let
the reader choose, whether he will give credit to a SAVorn
officer, or a professed adversary; to eye-witnesses, or to
malicious reporters upon hearsay; to that which is done
publicly in the face of the Church, or to that which is said to
be done privately in the corner of a tavern.
These authentic evidences being upon occasion produced
out of our ecclesiastical courts, and deliberately perused and
viewed by Father Oldcorn the Jesuit, he both professed him
self clearly convinced of that whereof he had so long doubted
(that was, the legitimate succession of Bishops and Priests in
our Church), and wished heartily towards the reparation of
the breach of Christendom, that all the world were so
abundantly satisfied as he himself was ; blaming us as partly
guilty of the gross mistake of many, for not having publicly
y Mason, De Ministerio Anglicano, 1625.]
&c. [lib. iii. c. 9. and Append., ed. z [This is a mistake for "/owr."]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 271
and timely made known to the world the notorious falsehood DISCOURSE
of that empty but far-spread aspersion against our sue- - - — -
cession a.
As for our parts, we believe Episcopacy to be at least an
Apostolical institution,, approved by Christ Himself in the [Rev. ii.
Revelation, ordained in the infancy of Christianity as a 1U
remedy against schism; and we bless God that we have a
clear succession of it.
3. Our matter and form in the ordination of Presbyters 3. Our mat-
is imposition of hands, and these words, " Receive the Holy form i
Ghost :" " Whose sins thou dost forgive, they are forgiven, ai Ordi-
and whose sins thou dost retain, they are retained ; be thou
a faithful dispenser of the Word and Sacraments b :" — the
form most agreeable to the Gospel, practised throughout the
Occidental Church for a thousand years, approved by the
134 Fathers, and by the most sound and learned Roman-
Catholics themselves. The form of ordination in the Greek
Church is no more but this, imposition of hands, and these
words, " The Divine grace which always cureth that which
is infirm, doth create" (or promote) "A. B., a venerable
Sub-Deacon, to be a Deacon," or, " a venerable Deacon, to K6TCU-' J
be a Priest," or, " a Priest beloved of God, to be a Bishop c :"
and yet no man ever doubted of the validity of their ordi
nation, but they did always, and do at this day, execute their
functions in the Roman Church, and discharge all duties
belonging to their respective Orders, as freely as in the
Greek Church itself. We have the same matter that they
have, we have the form more fully than they have, the
Romanists " themselves being judges." Then what madness [Deut.
is it to allow of their ordination, and dispute of ours ; and x'
upon a pretended defect in matter or form to drive men to
be re-ordained. Is not this ' ' to have the Faith of our Lord [James ii.
Jesus Christ in respect of persons ? "
These grounds are over-weighty to be counterbalanced by
the tradition of the Patine and of the Chalice, an upstart
custom or innovation, confirmed bnt the other day by the
a [See Bramhall's Consecrat. and Ordin. Presbyt., ibid. tit. viii. p. 107. B ;
Succession, &c., c. vi. (pp. 460, 461. Consecrat. Episcop., ibid. tit. vii. p. 67.
fol. edit), Discourse v. Part i.] A. B. See Courayer, Def. de la Diss.
b [Ordination Service.] sur la Valid, des Ordres Angl., torn. ii.
c [Ritus Ordin. Diacon., ap. Habert., P. i. liv. iv. cc. 1, 2.]
Pontificale Grsec., tit. ix. p. 179. D;
272 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART decree of Eugenius the Fourth d ; a time too late in con-
: science for introducing either a double matter and form, or
' a new matter and form, of that, which is acknowledged by
them, and not denied by us in a larger sense, to be a Sacra
ment. All we say is this, that it is not a Sacrament gene
rally necessary to salvation, as Baptism and the Holy
Eucharist are.
4. We de- 4. Neither do we draw or derive any spiritual iurisdic-
rive noju- . .
risdiction tion from the crown ; but either liberty and power to exer-
crown. 6 cisej actually and lawfully, upon the subjects of the crown,
that habitual jurisdiction which we received at our ordi
nation ; or the enlargement and dilatation of our jurisdiction
objectively, by the prince's referring more causes to the cog
nizance of the Church than formerly it had ; or, lastly, the
increase of it subjectively, by their giving to ecclesiastical
judges an external coercive power, which formerly they had
not. To go yet one step higher; in cases that are indeed
spiritual, or merely ecclesiastical, such as concern the doc
trine of Faith, or administration of the Sacraments, or the
ordaining or degrading of ecclesiastical persons, sovereign
princes have (and have only) an ' architectonicaP power, to
see that clergymen do their duties in their proper places.
But this power is always most properly exercised by the
advice and ministry of ecclesiastical persons ; and some
times necessarily, as in the degradation of one in Holy
Orders by ecclesiastical delegates. Therefore our law pro
vides, that nothing shall be judged heresy with us de novo,
but " by the High Court of Parliament" (wherein our Bishops
did always bear a part), " with the assent" (that is more than
advice) " of the clergy in their Convocation e." In sum, — we
hold our benefices from the king, but our offices from Christ;
the king doth nominate us, but Bishops do ordain us. I
touch these things more briefly now, because I have handled
them more at large in a full ' Answer to all the Objections
brought by S.N. Doctor of Theology, in the twentieth
chapter of the Guide of Faith, or the third Part of his
Antidote against our Holy Orders, our jurisdiction, and
a An. 1439. [Decret. Eugen. Papse See Bingh., bk. iv. c. 6. § 13. and
IV. ad Armenos (in Concil. Florentin.), Courayer, as before quoted, c. 3.]
ap. Labb., Concil., torn. xiii. p. 538. E. e [1 Eliz. c. 1. § 36.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 273
power to expound Scripture1"/ which, if -God send oppor- DISCOURSE
tunity, may, if it be thought convenient, perhaps one day see - T- —
the light.
The confounding of those two distinct acts, intimated by me Bishops
in this paragraph, that is, nomination or election, with ordina- jjfnor or?*
tion or consecration, hath begotten many mistakes in the world
on several sides; among which, the respect I owe to the British of ?1(i in
Churches will not permit me to pass by one untouched.
I have read related8, but confusedly, out of venerable Bede, [instances
sundry histories by very learned authors of ' Aidan, a Scottish mistaken.]
Bishop, sent to Oswald, king of Northumberland, for the
conversion of his people, from the Island of Hy, wherein was
one of the principal monasteries of the northern or Ulster
Scots/ &c. ; " sicque eum ordinantes ad pradicandum mise-
runth" — " so the college ordaining him Bishop sent him to
preach;" as likewise1 of 'Columbanus his coming into Britain,
where he had assigned unto him the island Hy or lona for
the building of a monastery / " habere autem solet ipsa insula
rectorem semper Abbatem Presbyterum, cujus juri et omnis
provincia, et ipsi etiam Episcopi ordine inusitato, debeant esse
subjectii" — "that island used to have a governor, an Abbot,
a Presbyter, to whose jurisdiction both the whole province,
135 and the Bishops themselves by an unusual order, ought to be
subjectV These testimonies they account so clear, as to be
able to 'enlighten the dullest eye/ And hence they conclude,
not only that Presbyters may ordain Bishops and be their
spiritual governors, but that it was " communis quodammodo
Anglorum omnium regula" " a common rule of all the English
in a manner/' that "Bishops being monks, should be subject
to their abbots1."
I honour Bede as the light of his age, who justly gained to
himself the name of Venerable throughout the Occidental
Church. And I doubt not but he writ what he heard. But
certainly he could not have such clear distinct knowledge of
particular circumstances, as they who have been upon the
place and seen the records thereof.
f [Discourse vii. Part iv.] i [Blondel., ibid.,] p. 370.
g Blonde!., Apolog. [pro Sentent. J [Bed., ibid., c. 4.]
Hieron. de Episcop., Sect, iii.], pp. k [Blondel., ibid.,] p. 367,
367, &c. J [Id., ibid.,] p. 371.
h [Bed., Hist. Eccles., lib. iii. c. 5.]
BRAMHALL.
274
A JUST VINDICATION OF
PAR T
I.
[First mis
take.]
[Second
mistake.]
[ Third
mistake.]
[Fourth
mistake.]
1 . First, there is a great mistake in the person. Columba
and Columbamis lived both in the same age, but Cohimbanus
was much the younger; who propagated Christian religion
much, but it was in other parts of the world. It was not
Columbanus, but Columba, that converted the British Scots,
and founded both the Bishopric of Derry by another name,
and the Abbey of Derry ; and likewise the Bishopric of the
Isles in Scotland, and the Abbey of lona; — he whom the
Irish call to this day Columkill, " quia multarum cellarum
pater m " (as his own scholar gives the reason in the descrip
tion of his life), " because he was the father or founder of
many churches or cells n."
2. Secondly, they confound the places; — the Abbey of
Derry or Derrimagh, ' quod lingua Scotorum significat campum
roborum0' (saith Bede) — ' which in Irish 3 (that was the
ancient Scottish) ' signifies a field or plain of oaks/ which
was indeed situated in the territories of the northern Ulster
Scots, with the Abbey of lona situated in Britain.
3. Thirdly, they confound the actions ; — mission, which is
no more than nomination or election, with ordination or con
secration. Who so proper to choose a Bishop as the Chapter?
So was that convent until the Reformation. Who so proper
to ordain as the Bishop ? For neither Derry, nor the Isles,
did ever want a Bishop from their first conversion. So,
referenda singula singulis, the words of Bede are plain, — the
Chapter named, and the Bishop ordained.
4. Fourthly, they mistake the subjection. The Abbot was
the lord of the manor, and so the Bishop was subject to the
Abbot in temporalibus. But the Abbot was every where sub
ject to the Bishop in spiritualibus, who did annually visit
both the Abbey and the Abbot, as by the visitation-rolls
and records (if these intestine wars have not made an end of
them) may appear. You see upon what conjectural grounds
critics many times build new paradoxes, which one latent cir
cumstance being known is able to disperse and dissipate with
all their probable presumptions. If it had not been thus, it
is no new thing for an Abbot to challenge Episcopal jurisdic-
m [Vita II. S. Columb., c. 1, ap.
Colgan., Triad. Thaumat. Acta &c., ed.
Lovan. 1647, and Append. V. c. 1.
ibid.]
n [See Ussher, De Primord. Brit.
Eccles., c. xv. pp. 687-910.]
0 [Bed., Hist. Eccles., lib. iii. c. 4.—
See Ussher, ibid., c. xv.pp. 691. 1034.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 275
turn, or to contend with his Bishop about it. What is this to DISCOURSE
mere presbyters qua tales ?
5. Lastly, they contradict Venerable Bede. He saith it [Fifth mis-
was " ordine inusitato " — " by an unusual order?." They say
it was "in a manner the common rule of all the English q."
And this they say upon pretence of a decree of the Council
of Hereford, that 'such Bishops, as had' voluntarily ( pro
fessed monkery, should perform their promised obedience r ;'
which is altogether impertinent to their purpose. Doth any
man doubt, whether Bishops might freely of their own
accord enter into a religious order ? or that they were not as
well obliged to perform their vow as others ? Some emperors
have done the same ; yet no man will conclude from thence,
that emperors are inferior to A-bbots.
Such mistakes are all their instances, except they light by Unformed
chance upon an unformed Church before it were well settled : no fit°pre-
— as if a man should argue thus ; there have been no Bishops ceclent-
in Virginia during the reigns of King James and King
Charles, therefore the clergy there were ordained by pres
byters. We know the contrary, — that they had their ordina
tion in England. So had the clergy, in unformed Churches,
foreign ordination.
This is part of that which we have to say for a proper
Patriarchate, and for our exemption from the jurisdiction of
the Roman Court, from which our separation is much wider
than from the Roman Church. Other differences may make
136 particular breaches, but the Roman Court makes the universal
schism between them and all the rest of the Christian world,
and hath been much complained of, and in part shaken off,
by some of their own communion.
I could wish with all my heart, that they were as ready to
quit their pretended prerogatives, — which not we alone, but
all the world except themselves, and a great part of themselves
privately, so condemn, — as we should be to wave our just
privileges, and, if need were, to sacrifice them to the common
peace of Christendom. This was a more noble and a more
speedy way to a re-union, than a Pharisaical ( compassing of [Matt.
xxiii. 15.
p [Bed., ibid.] 673.) can. 4, ap. Labb., Concil., torn.
q [Blondel., Apolog. &c., p. 371.] vi. p. 538. For Hereford, in the text,
* [Act. Concil. Herudford. (A. D. read Her/ford.]
276 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART sea and land, to make particular proselytes of all those, whom
— : either a natural levity, or want of judgment, or discontent,
or despair to see the Church of England re-established, or
extreme poverty and expectation of some supply, have pre
pared for their baits ; whom they do not court more until
they have gained them, than they neglect after they think
they have them sure, as daily experience doth teach us.
CHAP. X.
THE CONCLUSION OF THIS TREATISE.
[Of the THIS is the treatise of schism intimated in my answer to
La Mine- Monsieur de la Milletiere s, but not promised by me, who
know nothing of the impression *, nor should have judged it
proper to give an English answer to a French author. How
soever, being published, I own it, except the errors of the
press : among which I desire the Christian reader to take
notice especially of one, because it perverts the sense. It is
noted in the margin u.
[Hard con- They who have composed minds free from distracting cares,
theEngiish and means to maintain them, and friends to assist them, and
exiles. ] their books and notes by them, do little imagine with what
difficulties poor exiles struggle, whose minds are more intent
on what they should eat to-morrow, than what they should
write, being chased as vagabonds into the merciless world to
beg relief of strangers : — a hard condition, that, when the
meanest creatures are secured from that fear of wanting
necessary sustenance by the bounty of God and nature, —
that only men, the best of creatures, should be subjected to it
by undeserved cruelty. Peruse all the histories of the latest
wars, among Dutch, French, Swedes, Danes, Spaniards, Poles,
Tartars, and Turks, and you shall not meet with the like
hard measure. Did the king of Spain conquer a town from
the Hollanders? He acquired a new dominion, but the
property of private men continued the same. Did the
Hollanders take in a town from the Spaniard ? They made
3 [Answ. to La Milletiere, pp. 36,60. u P. [45], 1. [32], for "Neither do
of this vol.] you," read "Moreover you do," [as
1 [i. e. of the Answ. to La Milletiere.] corrected in this edition.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 277
provision for the very cloisterers, during their lives. So did DISCOURSE
our Henry the Eighth also at the dissolution of the Abbeys. '- —
f Violent things last not long/
Or if exiles can subsist without begging, yet they are
necessitated to do or suffer things otherwise not so agreeable
to them : wherein they deserve the pity of all good men.
When Alexander had conquered Darius, and found many
Grecians in his army, "he commanded to detain the Athenians
prisoners, because, having means to live at home, they chose
rather to serve a Barbarian; and the Thessalians, because
they had a fruitful country of their own to till : but (said he)
suffer the Thebans to go free, for we have left them neither
a city to live in, nor fields to till x." This is our condition.
When the free exercise of the Roman religion was pro
hibited in England, and they wanted seminaries at home for
the education of their youth, and means of ordination ; yet,
by the bounty of foreign princes, and much more by the
free contribution of our own countrymen of that communion,
they had colleges founded abroad for their subsistence. So
careful were they to propagate and perpetuate their religion
in their native country. The last age before these unhappy
137 troubles was as fruitful in works of piety and charity done
by Protestants, as any one preceding age since the conversion
of Britain : and, although we cannot hope for that foreign
assistance which they found, yet might we have expected a
larger supply from home, by as much as our professors are
much more numerous than theirs were. Hath the sword [i Kings
devoured up all the charitable Obadiahs in our land? or is
there no man that lays " the affliction of Joseph " to heart ? «0
Yet God, that maintained His people in the wilderness 3, 4. xxix.
without the ordinary supply of food or raiment, will not [ps.' cxxvi.
desert us, until " He turn our captivity as the rivers in the 4^
South." Where human help faileth, Divine begins.
But to draw to a conclusion. — We have seen in this short [Recapitu-
treatise how the Court of Rome hath been the cause of all a
the differences and broils between the emperors with other
Christian princes and states, and the Popes y. We have seen
that from the excesses, abuses, innovations, and extortions, of
x Plutarch. [Apophthegm. Regum, in y [c. vi. pp. 179-192. c. vii. pp. 207,
Alexand., num. 22, Op. Moral., torn. i. &c. c. viii. pp. 246, &c.]
p. 504. ed. Wyttenb.]
278 A JUST VINDICATION OF
PART that Court, have sprung all the schisms of the Eastern and
- Western Church, and of the Occidental Church within itself2.
We have heard the confession of Pope Adrian, that " for
some years by-past many things to be abominated had been
in that holy See, abuses in spiritual matters, excesses in com
mands, and all things out of order." We have heard his
promise "to endeavour the reformation of his own Court,
from whence peradventure all the evil did spring, that, as
corruption did flow from thence to the inferior parts, so might
health and reformation : to which he accounted himself so
much more obliged, by how much he did see the whole world
greedily desire a reformation a." We have viewed the repre
sentation which nine selected Cardinals and prelates did
make upon their oaths to Paul the Third ; that ' this lying
flattering principle/ that "the Pope is the lord of all benefices,
and therefore could not be simoniacal," was "the fountain,
from whence, as from the Trojan horse, so many abuses and
so grievous diseases had broken into the Church, and brought
it to a desperate condition, to the derision of Christian reli
gion, and blaspheming of the name of Christ," and that " the
cure must begin there, from whence the disease did springV
We may remember the memorial of the king of Spain, and
the whole kingdom of Castile ; that " the abuses of the Court
of Rome gave occasion to all the reformations and schisms of
the Church c :" — and the complaint of the king and kingdom
of Portugal; that "for these reasons many kingdoms had
withdrawn their obedience and reverential respect from the
Church of Romed." These were no Protestants. The first
step to health, is to know the true cause of our disease.
[How far It hath been long debated, whether the Protestant and
testant and Roman Churches be reconcileable or not. Far be it from me
Churches to make myself a judge of that controversy. Thus much I
cifeabie T kave °^serve^ tnat tnev wno understand the fewest contro
versies, make the most, and the greatest. If questions were
truly stated by moderate persons, both the number and the
height would be much abated. Many differences are
grounded upon mistakes of one another's sense. Many are
* [c. viii. pp. 24-7, &c.] c [c. vii. p. 196, note r.]
» [c. vii. pp. 207, 208. note a.] d [c. vii. p. 238, note a.]
b [c. vii. p. 208. note d.]
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 279
mere logomachies or contentions about words. Many are DISCOURSE
merely scholastical, above the capacity and apprehension of
ordinary brains. And many doubtless are real, both in cre-
dendis and agendis — both, in doctrine and discipline. But
whether the distance be so great,, or how far any of these are
necessary to salvation, or do intrench upon the fundamentals
of religion, requires a serious, judicious, and impartial con
sideration. There is great difference between the reconcilia
tion of the persons, and the reconciliation of the opinions.
Men may vary in their judgments, and yet preserve Christian
unity and charity in their affections one towards another, so
as the errors be not destructive to fundamental articles.
I determine nothing, but only crave leave to propose a
question to all moderate Christians, who love the peace of the
Church, and long for the re-union thereof: — in the first
place, if the Bishop of Rome were reduced from his univer
sality of sovereign jurisdiction jure Divino, to his "principium
unitatis" and his Court regulated by the canons of the
Fathers, which was the sense of the Councils of Constance
and Basle, and is desired by many Roman Catholics as well
as we : secondly, if the Creed or necessary points of faith
were reduced to what they were in the time of the four first
(Ecumenical Councils, according to the decree of the third
138 general Council6 (who dare say that the Faith of the primitive
Fathers was insufficient ?), admitting no additional articles,
but only necessary explications ; and those to be made by the
authority of a general Council, or one so general as can be
convocated: and, lastly, supposing that some things from
whence offences [are] either given or taken (which, whether
right or wrong, do not weigh half so much as the unity of
Christians), were put out of Divine offices, which would not
be refused if animosities were taken away and charity re
stored : — I say, in case these three things were accorded,
which seem very reasonable demands, whether Christians
might not live in a holy communion, and join in the same
public worship of God, free from all schismatical separation
of themselves one from another, notwithstanding diversities
of opinions, which prevail even among the members of the
same particular Churches, both with them and us.
e Concil. Ephes., Part ii. Act. 6, c, 5. [ap. Labb., Concil., torn. iii. p. 689. A.]
ERRATA.
P. Hi, note a, for "XV,'
read "XVI.1
— vi, v,
— X, t,
— xxxvi, 1. 11.
— 34, note q,
— 60, margin,
— 174, margin,
I n first half ofi
the Volume '
"Colborne,"
"IX,"
" XV,"
"five,"
"Nelson,"
" 5,
"1110,"
" Usher,"
"Golbourn.
"VIII."
"XVI."
"nine."
" Nalson."
"p. 5."
"1510."
"Ussher."
OXFORD :
PRINTED BY I. SHRIMPTON.
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